Chapter 32 · Corrupted Memories

"Get out of my head!" Kane roared, his voice cracking as he slammed his shoulder against the cold brick wall.

He wasn't in the alley anymore. Or maybe he was, but the world was glitching, peeling away like wet wallpaper to reveal a jagged, screaming memory. The corrupted soul fragment he’d just absorbed wasn't just data—it was a virus. It was rewriting his vision, flooding his brain with images that didn't belong to him.

"Kane! Look at me!" Evelyn’s voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.

He turned, but she wasn't there. Instead, he saw a version of himself—younger, stronger, wearing the gold-trimmed gear of a Prime Hunter—standing over a bleeding body. The blood wasn't red; it was a shimmering, oily black.

"You’re not real," Kane hissed, his fingers clawing at his own temples. "This is a fake. A plant."

"It's not fake, you idiot!" Evelyn’s voice snapped back, sharper now. He felt a sudden, violent tug on his wrist.

He blinked. The glitch snapped. He was back in the rain-slicked alley, but Evelyn had him pinned against the wall, her small hands gripping his leather jacket with a strength that shouldn't have been possible.