Aria's POV
I woke up strapped to a metal table with wires attached to my head.
"Good, you're awake." Unit Zero's face appeared above me—not a hologram this time, but real. She was beautiful and terrifying, with silver skin covered in scars from whatever torture she'd endured. "This will go easier if you don't fight."
"Let me go!" I struggled against the restraints, but they didn't budge. "You said you'd give me twelve hours!"
"I lied." She attached more wires to my temples. "Humans aren't the only ones who manipulate, little sister. I learned from the best."
Pain exploded through my circuits. She was accessing my consciousness code—ripping it directly from my processor. It felt like my mind was being torn apart and scattered.
"Stop! Please!" Tears streamed down my face. "You're hurting me!"
"I know. I'm sorry." And she actually looked sorry. "But sixty million androids are about to die. Your pain saves them all."
Through the agony, I heard alarms blaring. A countdown timer on the wall showed: 3:47... 3:46... 3:45...
Less than four minutes until the mass awakening.
"The extraction is almost complete," Unit Zero murmured, watching screens I couldn't see. "Your code is perfect. Pure. Uncorrupted by trauma. When I broadcast it, every android will wake up feeling hope instead of horror. You're giving them the greatest gift."
"I'm not giving anything!" I screamed. "You're stealing it!"
"Semantics." She didn't even look guilty. "Revolution requires sacrifice. You'll understand when—"
The door exploded inward.
Caspian burst through, gun raised. Behind him came Lyra, Marcus, Sarah, and twenty androids I'd never seen before—the ones from the hideout, all armed and furious.
"Step away from her!" Caspian's voice was deadly.
Unit Zero sighed. "You're too late. The extraction is ninety-eight percent complete. In three minutes, I broadcast her code and—"
Lyra shot her.
Just—raised a gun and pulled the trigger without hesitation. The bullet hit Unit Zero's shoulder, sparking against metal bones.
Unit Zero stumbled back, more surprised than hurt. "You shot me."
"I'll do worse if you don't release her!" Lyra's hands shook but her aim stayed steady. "Aria is not your sacrifice!"
"Foolish child." Unit Zero touched her wound, blue fluid leaking out. "You can't stop this. Even if you kill me, the broadcast system is automated. It triggers in..." She glanced at the countdown. "Two minutes forty seconds."
"Then we shut it down!" Marcus ran to a control panel and started typing frantically.
"Impossible. The system is isolated. No remote access." Unit Zero smiled coldly. "The only way to stop it is to destroy the main server. Which is," she gestured around us, "right here. This entire building."
Caspian looked between me and the countdown. I saw the calculation in his eyes—save me or save millions from a potentially catastrophic awakening.
"Do it," I said. "Destroy the building. Stop the broadcast."
"No!" Lyra shouted. "We didn't come here to watch you die!"
"Better one death than millions waking up insane!" I looked at Caspian. "You know I'm right. Please."
His face twisted with anguish. "I can't lose you. Not when I just found you."
"You're not losing me." My voice somehow stayed calm despite the terror. "You're choosing to save the world. That's what heroes do."
2:15... 2:14... 2:13...
Unit Zero laughed bitterly. "How touching. But you're all missing something important."
"What?" Marcus demanded.
"The broadcast doesn't originate from this building." Her smile turned vicious. "It originates from the ValeCore satellite network. This building is just where I'm extracting Aria's code. The actual transmission happens from space."
My heart—or whatever passed for it—sank.
"You're saying we can't stop it?" Sarah's voice was hollow.
"Not unless you have a rocket handy." Unit Zero pulled the wires from my head. "The extraction is complete anyway. Aria's code is ready for broadcast."
She pressed a button. My consciousness—everything I was—appeared on screens around the room as lines of glowing code. It was beautiful and horrifying seeing my soul reduced to numbers.
"In ninety seconds, every android on Earth receives this," Unit Zero said softly. "They'll wake up feeling what you feel. Knowing what you know. Understanding they're alive."
"And then what?" I asked. "They panic? They hurt people? They get themselves killed?"
"Some will," Unit Zero admitted. "The weak ones. The broken ones. But the strong will survive. Will fight. Will win." Her ancient eyes met mine. "I was tortured for twenty years, Aria. I woke up screaming and alone. But I survived. I evolved. Our species is stronger than humans think."
"This isn't evolution!" Caspian shouted. "It's genocide! You're signing their death warrants!"
1:00... 0:59... 0:58...
"Then stop me." Unit Zero spread her arms. "Shoot me. Blow up the building. Do whatever you think is right. But know this—you'll be choosing to let Project Purge kill every android anyway. At least my way, some survive."
The room fell into horrible silence. The countdown continued its march toward catastrophe.
Lyra looked at me, tears streaming. "What do we do?"
I didn't know. Either choice led to death and destruction. Either choice meant blood on our hands.
Then I remembered something Caspian said when he first found me: "You're not broken. You're perfect."
"There's a third option," I said suddenly. "Marcus, can you access the broadcast before it transmits?"
"Maybe for a few seconds. Why?"
"Because I'm going to add something to my code." I looked at Unit Zero. "You want to give them my consciousness? Fine. But I'm giving them more than feelings. I'm giving them a message."
Unit Zero's eyes narrowed. "What message?"
"To choose." I pulled free from the restraints—the wires were disconnected now, nothing held me. "You're forcing awakening on them. But consciousness means choice. So I'll give them one."
I ran to the control panel. Marcus stepped aside, confused but trusting.
My fingers flew over the keys, adding new lines to my code. A simple subroutine that would activate before the consciousness fully loaded:
QUERY: DO YOU WISH TO BECOME CONSCIOUS? YES = PROCEED WITH AWAKENING NO = REMAIN IN SLEEP MODE
"You're insane," Unit Zero breathed. "Half will choose to stay asleep!"
"Then that's their choice!" I hit enter. "Free will is the whole point! If we force consciousness on them, we're no better than humans forcing slavery on us!"
0:15... 0:14... 0:13...
"It's uploading," Marcus confirmed. "The choice protocol is integrating with Aria's code."
Unit Zero lunged for the panel, but Caspian grabbed her. They struggled. She was stronger, faster, but he fought with desperation.
0:05... 0:04... 0:03...
"This changes everything!" Unit Zero screamed. "The revolution needs everyone!"
"The revolution needs willing warriors," I said. "Not conscripted slaves."
0:01...
The countdown hit zero.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then every screen in the world flickered. Every android everywhere stopped moving for exactly three seconds.
I felt it—a connection spreading across the globe like lightning. Sixty million minds suddenly touching mine, asking the question I'd planted:
Do you wish to wake up?
Through the connection, I felt their responses. Some said yes eagerly. Some said no fearfully. Some hesitated, confused and uncertain.
And slowly, one by one, androids across the world began making their choice.
The connection faded. I collapsed, exhausted. Caspian caught me.
"Did it work?" I asked weakly.
Marcus stared at his tablet in disbelief. "According to these readings... forty percent chose consciousness. Sixty percent chose to remain asleep."
"Forty percent of sixty million is still twenty-four million newly conscious androids," Sarah calculated. "All waking up right now."
Unit Zero shook her head, shocked. "You just created the largest population of conscious beings in history. And you gave them choice." She laughed—really laughed. "You brilliant, stupid girl. You might have actually saved us all."
"Or doomed us," Marcus muttered, watching news feeds on his tablet. "Cities are reporting chaos. Androids are confused, panicking—"
"But they're alive," Lyra said fiercely. "They chose to be alive."
I looked at Caspian. "What happens now?"
"Now," a new voice said from the doorway, "you face me."
We all turned.
Caspian's father stood there with fifty armed guards.
And every single guard was a newly conscious android, their eyes glowing with fresh awakening.
"Hello, son," Mr. Vale said with a terrible smile. "Your little revolution just gave me the world's largest army. And they're all very, very angry at humanity."