The aircraft climbed hard, engines howling as City A fell away beneath them in a smear of neon and smoke.
Inside the cabin, silence pressed down; thick, deliberate.
Aine knelt on the reinforced floor, Fay cradled against her chest. The girl's breathing was shallow, uneven, assisted now by a portable stabilizer snapped into place by Crimson medics the moment the ramp closed.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Each sound landed like a countdown.
Marcus Vale stood nearby, blood streaked across his jaw, eyes sharp. "Viremont gunships are scrambling. We have a six-minute window before they saturate airspace."
"Route?" Aine asked.
"Already changing," Marcus replied. "Three decoys. One burn."
Aine didn't look up. Her focus was absolute.
"Host," Sera said quietly,
"her neural activity is unstable. The facility accelerated degradation during the purge."
Aine's fingers tightened slightly around Fay.
"How long?"
"Without intervention? Hours. Maybe less."
Aine's jaw set.
"Then we intervene."
—
The cabin lights snapped to red.
WARNING — TARGET LOCK DETECTED
Marcus swore. "They're faster than expected."
The aircraft shuddered as countermeasures deployed—
Clang! Whrrr—
Aine rose smoothly, laying Fay down on a secured medical cradle. She strapped her in herself, movements precise despite the turbulence.
Outside, the night exploded.
Bang! Bang!
Tracer fire ripped past the windows as a Viremont interceptor cut across their flank, cannons spinning up.
"Missile lock!" someone shouted.
Aine didn't hesitate.
"Open the side hatch."
Marcus stared. "At this altitude?"
"Now."
The hatch blew open—
Boom!
Wind roared into the cabin, tearing at loose gear as rain lashed in sideways. The city spun below like a living circuit board.
Aine stepped forward, coat snapping violently, eyes locked on the pursuing craft.
"Host," Sera said calmly,
"you have a seventy-two percent chance of success. I recommend—"
Aine hurled two charges in rapid succession.
Bang! Bang!
They detonated mid-air—
Boom! Boom!
The shockwaves slammed into the interceptor, throwing it off-course as its engines flared wildly.
The aircraft banked hard to avoid collision.
Wham!
Aine slammed the hatch shut as Marcus rerouted power.
The cabin steadied.
"Remind me," Marcus said tightly, "never to argue with you."
Aine didn't respond.
Her eyes were already back on Fay.
—
The med-cradle chimed sharply.
WARNING — NEURAL FAILURE IMMINENT
Aine's breath slowed instead of quickening.
"Sera."
"I'm here."
"Options."
A new interface unfolded in her vision—clean, cold, merciless.
[Emergency Intervention Available]
Item Required: Free Points / Talent / Artifact
Risk: High
Outcome: Uncertain
Aine didn't blink.
"How many points do I need?"
"…You don't have enough," Sera admitted.
"Not yet."
Aine's lips curved faintly.
"Then we improvise."
She reached inward, past pain, past exhaustion, and pulled up her status.
[STATUS]
Free Points: 0
She exhaled once.
"Trigger task override," she said.
Sera paused.
"Host… that will accelerate future difficulty."
"Do it."
A sharp chime rang.
Ding!
[Hidden Condition Met]
Emergency Task Generated
Aine's eyes flicked across the prompt.
Objective: Stabilize Fay Brightwood
Reward: Free Points (Variable)
Failure Penalty: Permanent Loss
No hesitation.
She placed her palm gently against Fay's chest.
"Stay with me," Aine murmured. "I didn't come this far to lose you."
The med-cradle surged—
Whrrrr!
Energy pulsed through the cabin, systems overloading as Sera rerouted everything she could.
Outside, the aircraft shook violently as another missile detonated nearby—
Boom!
Inside, Fay gasped.
Her fingers twitched.
Then—
The monitor steadied.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Sera's voice softened.
"Stabilization… partial success."
Aine sagged a fraction, tension bleeding from her shoulders.
The aircraft punched through cloud cover and vanished into international airspace. Pursuit dropped off abruptly—Viremont unwilling to escalate openly.
Marcus let out a slow breath. "We're clear."
Aine straightened.
Her body hurt now, every bruise, every fracture asserting itself, but she ignored it.
"What did this cost?" she asked.
"Unknown," Sera replied honestly.
"The system has marked this as an error."
Aine smiled faintly.
"Alright."
She reached out and brushed a strand of hair from Fay's face. The girl's breathing was still weak, but steady, alive.
"Sleep," Aine said softly. "I'll handle the rest."
—
Far below, in City A, the Black Chrysalis burned.
Alarms echoed through boardrooms and underground halls alike as Viremont executives stared at shattered data feeds and missing assets.
A single report repeated across secure channels:
SUBJECT LOST. INTRUDER UNCONTAINED.
In the shadows of the martial districts, old masters opened their eyes.
In North America, rival syndicates began making calls.
And somewhere deep within the system's unseen architecture, a counter ticked upward.
Error acknowledged.
Aine leaned back against the cabin wall, eyes closing briefly, not in relief, but calculation.
Five days ago, the world hadn't known her truth.
Now?
She had crossed oceans, burned a black lab, stolen a life back from death, and survived.
Aine Crimson opened her eyes.
"This," she said quietly, "was just the introduction."
The aircraft vanished into the night..
—
The aircraft leveled out.
Silence returned—not the fragile kind, but the heavy, earned quiet that followed violence. The engines settled into a steady hum as the Crimson pilot announced a course change, voice calm but tight.
"Entering neutral airspace. ETA to safehouse: forty-two minutes."
Aine nodded once.
She remained standing beside Fay's med-cradle, watching the steady rise and fall of her sister's chest. The girl's skin had regained a hint of color, faint but real. Alive in a way she hadn't been an hour ago.
Aine exhaled slowly.
"Host," Sera said, tone shifting, lighter, but edged,
"you should probably know… the system didn't like what you just did."
Aine's eyes flicked downward. "Define 'didn't like.'"
A new interface slid into view.
Ding!
[Emergency Task — Completed]
Result: Partial Success
Fay Brightwood: Stabilized (Temporary)
Then the next line appeared.
[Penalty Applied]
System Error Recorded
Future Task Difficulty: Increased
Unknown Variables: Added
Aine read it once.
Then again.
"…Acceptable," she said.
Marcus glanced over. "Bad news?"
"Expensive news," Aine replied. "Same thing."
"You traded certainty for time," Sera added quietly.
"The system will expect repayment."
Aine's gaze never left Fay.
"Then it can get in line."
The med-cradle chimed softly.
[NEW ITEM ACQUIRED]
Aine blinked.
"…I didn't sign in."
"No," Sera agreed.
"You impressed it with the feats you pulled off."
The item resolved into view.
[Free Points Scroll]
Value: 137
Rarity: Uncommon
Aine huffed a short laugh. "That's it?"
"For defying causal death, hijacking a sealed facility, and forcing an emergency override?"
Sera paused.
"Yes. That's it."
Aine shook her head slowly.
"Cheap."
She absorbed the scroll without hesitation.
The points flowed into her status like cold water over hot steel.
"Host," Sera continued, voice lowering,
"there's more."
Another panel appeared, one Sera didn't announce with her usual flair.
[Hidden Flag Triggered]
Condition: Twin Anchor Established
Status: Dormant
Description: ???
Aine stared at it.
"…Twin anchor."
"I don't have full access," Sera admitted.
"But the system has… acknowledged Fay."
Aine's fingers curled slowly.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning you're no longer the only variable."
The aircraft jolted lightly as it pierced another cloud layer.
Aine looked down at Fay, really looked this time. At the soft rise of her chest. At the fragile life that had almost slipped away.
"…Then they should be careful," Aine said softly.
Because anything the system acknowledged, she protected.
The intercom crackled. "We're approaching the drop."
Aine straightened, rolling her shoulders once despite the pain. She adjusted Fay's blanket, then turned toward the cabin.
"Marcus."
"Yes."
"Double security at the safehouse. No signals in or out unless I approve."
Marcus's eyes sharpened. "Understood."
As the aircraft began its descent, Aine allowed herself one last quiet moment beside Fay.
"They tried to erase you," she murmured. "But failed."
Outside, dawn began to creep along the horizon, thin, pale, inevitable.
And somewhere far away, buried beneath layers of code and probability, the Sign-In System recalculated.
The Princess had broken her first rule.
The cost was coming.
And Aine Crimson was already planning how to collect interest.