Sera's POV
The pain is beyond description.
Liquid metal floods my veins like fire. Every cell in my body is being ripped apart and rebuilt. I can feel it—the nano-machines tearing through my muscles, burrowing into my bones, wrapping around my nerves.
I scream until my throat is raw. Then I scream more.
"Heart rate critical!" Dr. Nyx's voice sounds far away. "She's going into shock!"
"Hold the course," Kael's cold voice cuts through the agony. "If she dies, she dies."
The restraints cut into my wrists as I thrash. The machines hum louder. More liquid metal pumps into me. It feels like my skeleton is being replaced piece by piece. Like my brain is being rewired with hot needles.
"Integration at 30%," someone announces. "She's still alive."
Still alive. As if that's surprising.
The pain doubles. Triples. I can't breathe. Can't think. There's nothing but burning and tearing and breaking.
"40% integration. Neural pathways are adapting."
I taste blood. Did I bite my tongue? I can't tell. Everything is pain.
Marcus's face flashes through my mind. Diana's cruel smile. My parents' disappointment.
NO.
I will not die here. I will not let them win.
"50% integration!" Dr. Nyx sounds shocked. "Impossible. No human has ever—"
"Watch her neural activity," Kael orders. "If it spikes too high, her brain will fry."
My body arches off the platform. The restraints are the only thing keeping me from breaking apart. Every nerve ending is on fire. My eyes feel like they're melting.
Then something shifts.
The pain doesn't stop, but I can feel something else now. Power. Raw and terrifying, flooding through my rebuilt body. My heart beats stronger. My muscles feel denser. My senses sharpen until I can hear every whispered conversation in the room.
"60% integration," someone whispers. "This is unprecedented."
"She's going to burn out," another voice argues. "Her body can't handle this much enhancement. We should abort—"
"No." Kael's voice is hard as steel. "She wants to survive. Let her try."
More metal floods my system. My back arches so far I feel something crack. Not breaking—changing. My spine is being reinforced with alien alloys.
"70% integration!" Dr. Nyx is yelling now. "Kael, this is beyond anything we've seen! If we push her further—"
"Then we'll discover her limits."
I hate him. Hate his cold voice. Hate that he's right.
I don't want them to stop. I want MORE.
The machines pump faster. The pain reaches a crescendo that whites out my vision. I'm dying. I must be dying. Nothing could survive this.
But I'm not nothing.
I'm Sera Vance, and I refuse to be broken again.
"73% integration and holding!" Dr. Nyx sounds breathless. "Her body is stabilizing. She's... she's actually doing it."
The pain begins to fade. Not gone—never gone—but manageable now. I can breathe again. Can think.
My eyes snap open.
The room is too bright. I can see every detail—the rivets in the metal walls, the dust particles in the air, the microscopic scratches on Dr. Nyx's tablet. My hearing is razor-sharp. I can hear Kael's heartbeat, steady and slow.
"Neural integration complete," someone announces. "Enhancement successful at 73%."
The restraints release. I try to sit up and move too fast. I'm off the platform and across the room before I realize I moved. My back slams into the wall hard enough to dent the metal.
"Easy," Dr. Nyx approaches slowly, hands raised. "Your body is enhanced now. You're stronger and faster than you're used to. It takes time to adjust."
I look down at my hands. They're glowing. Soft golden light pulses beneath my skin, following the pathways of metal now fused with my veins. It's beautiful and alien and terrifying.
"How do you feel?" Dr. Nyx asks.
"Like I died and came back as something else." My voice sounds different. Stronger.
"In a way, you did." She smiles. "Welcome to your new life, Techno-Knight Vance."
Techno-Knight. I'm actually a Techno-Knight.
I turn and there's a mirror on the wall. The woman looking back at me is familiar but changed. My copper hair seems brighter. My eyes—my eyes glow molten gold. The metal beneath my skin traces elegant patterns down my arms, my neck, disappearing under the medical gown.
I'm beautiful in a dangerous way now. Like a weapon wrapped in human skin.
"Twelve humans died in this chamber before you," Kael's voice makes me turn. He's watching me with those unreadable violet eyes. "You're the first to survive with integration above 60%. Do you know what that means?"
"That I'm special?" I say it sarcastically, but something in his expression shifts.
"That you're dangerous." He walks toward me slowly. "73% integration puts you above most Aelarian soldiers. Your human adaptability combined with our enhancement technology created something we've never seen before."
He stops a few feet away. "Some will fear you for it. Some will want to study you. Some will want to eliminate you before you become a threat." His eyes bore into mine. "And some will want to see just how far you can go."
"Which one are you?"
A slight smile touches his lips. It's not warm, but it's something. "All of the above."
Before I can respond, alarms blare throughout the Academy. Red lights flash.
"What's happening?" Dr. Nyx checks her tablet, eyes widening. "No. It can't be."
"Report," Kael snaps.
"Breach in Section 7. Multiple casualties." She looks up, face pale. "It's the Resistance. They've infiltrated the Academy."
"Resistance?" I ask.
"Humans who reject Aelarian rule. They sabotage, they kill, they destroy anything related to the enhancement program." Kael is already moving toward the door. "They view enhanced humans as traitors to the species."
"We need to evacuate Sera," Dr. Nyx says urgently. "If they find out about her integration level—"
An explosion rocks the Academy. The lights flicker.
"Too late for evacuation." Kael pulls a weapon from a wall panel—a sleek gun that glows with blue energy. "Section 7 is two corridors from here. They're coming for the enhancement chambers. For her."
He tosses me a weapon. I catch it instinctively, my new reflexes making the movement smooth.
"You wanted to be a Techno-Knight?" Kael's voice is sharp. "Then fight like one. Your first lesson starts now."
"I don't know how to use this!" The weapon feels alien in my hands.
"Point and shoot. Your enhanced neural systems will help you aim." He heads toward the door. "Stay close to me. Do exactly what I say. And try not to die in the next ten minutes."
The door explodes inward.
Three humans in black tactical gear storm in, weapons raised. They see me—see the golden glow in my eyes—and their faces twist with rage.
"Traitor!" one screams. "You let them turn you into a monster!"
They open fire.
Kael moves like lightning, his weapon taking down two of them before I can blink. The third aims at me.
Time seems to slow. I can see the bullet leaving the gun. Can track its trajectory. My body moves without thinking, diving sideways faster than should be possible.
The bullet passes through where I was standing.
I raise my weapon. Point it at the attacker. My hands are shaking but my aim is steady—my enhanced systems compensating for the fear.
"Shoot!" Kael yells. "Now!"
I pull the trigger.
The blast hits the attacker in the chest. He falls.
I just killed someone.
I'm going to be sick.
"No time for guilt!" Kael grabs my arm, pulling me toward the door. "More are coming. Move!"
We run through corridors filled with smoke and chaos. Enhanced Aelarian guards fight against human Resistance fighters. Bodies lie on the floor—both human and Aelarian.
"Why are they doing this?" I gasp, keeping pace with Kael. My new body doesn't tire like it should.
"Because they'd rather die human than live enhanced." He fires at another attacker. "They think the enhancement program is slavery. Mind control. They don't understand it's evolution."
We round a corner and freeze.
A man stands there in Resistance gear, but he's not attacking. He's staring at me with wide eyes.
"Sera?" he whispers.
I know that voice.
The man pulls off his mask and my blood turns to ice.
It's my father.
"Dad?" The word barely comes out.
He looks at my glowing eyes. At the weapon in my hand. At the metal patterns visible on my skin.
"What did they do to you?" His voice breaks. "Oh, Sera. What did you let them do?"
"I—" I can't explain. Can't think.
"She enhanced herself," Kael says coldly, weapon trained on my father. "She chose this."
"She's my daughter!" Dad's eyes fill with tears. "You turned her into a weapon!"
"I turned myself into something stronger," I say, finding my voice. "Something that can't be hurt anymore."
"This isn't strength. This is surrender." Dad takes a step forward. "Come with me. The Resistance has doctors who can reverse the process. We can save you."
"Reverse it?" I stare at him. "You want me to go back to being weak? To being nothing?"
"I want you to be human!"
"I am human!" I'm shouting now. "Just enhanced. Better. Finally good enough!"
"Good enough?" Dad looks devastated. "Sera, you were always good enough. We just—Diana said you—"
"Diana LIED!" The words explode out of me. "About everything! She stole my life and you believed her! You chose her over me!"
Dad's face crumbles. "We made a mistake. Please. Come home. We'll fix this—"
Another explosion. The corridor shakes.
"We're out of time," Kael says. "Make your choice, Sera. Stay and fight, or go with him."
I look at my father. The man who raised me. Who stopped believing in me when it mattered most.
Then I look at Kael. Cold, harsh, but honest.
"I'm staying," I say quietly.
"Sera, no—"
"You made your choice when you believed Diana. I'm making mine now." I raise my weapon, not pointing it at Dad but making my stance clear. "Leave. Please. Before someone else makes this decision for us."
Dad stares at me like he doesn't know me anymore.
Maybe he doesn't.
"I'll come back for you," he whispers. "I'll save you from what they've made you."
Then he's gone, disappearing into the smoke.
Kael lowers his weapon. "That was brave. Or foolish."
"I'm tired of people thinking I need saving," I say, my voice steady despite the tears I'm holding back. "I saved myself."
He studies me for a long moment. Then nods. "Come on. We need to get to the safe zone."
We're almost there when his communicator buzzes.
Kael listens, his expression darkening. "Understood."
He looks at me and there's something in his eyes I can't read.
"What is it?"
"That was Academy Command." His voice is careful. "They want you contained. Your integration level is too high. They view you as a potential security risk."
My new heart pounds. "What does that mean?"
"It means in thirty seconds, soldiers are going to arrive to take you to isolation. To study you. To possibly eliminate you if they decide you're too dangerous."
The betrayal hits like a physical blow. "You're handing me over."
"I should." He meets my eyes. "It's my duty. My orders."
"But?"
He takes a breath. Makes a decision.
"But I've spent my whole life following orders that I knew were wrong. I won't do it again." He grabs my hand. "Run."