Chapter 27 · Walking Bomb

"Get your hands off the console, Darek! You're going to fry your own damn heart!"

Lyra’s voice screamed over the roar of the sky-fortress’s turbines. She lunged for me, her boots skidding on the metal grating of the reactor bridge. She didn't just grab my arm; she slammed her entire weight into me, pinning my shoulder against the humming Aether-column.

"Move, Lyra!" I barked, my voice cracking. I didn't look at her. I couldn't. My eyes were locked on the holographic display flickering in front of us. "Toby is strapped to the core. If I don't bridge the voltage now, he’s not just dead—he’s the spark that levels the whole district."

"You can't bridge a Class-S surge with a scrap-arm!" She gripped my wrist, her fingers digging into the scarred metal of my forearm. Her breath was hot against my neck, smelling of ozone and desperation. "You'll burn out. You'll be a vegetable before the first explosion even hits."

"Better me than a million people in the slums," I snapped. I wrenched my arm back, the mechanical joints shrieking. "Let. Me. Go."

She didn't.