Chapter 34 · Echoes of Betrayal

"Get your hand off me before I rip it off," Sloane hissed, but she didn't pull away. She couldn't. Her legs gave out, and she slammed against the corrugated metal wall of the alley, dragging me down with her.

I hit the pavement hard, the impact rattling my teeth. My vision flickered—static creeping in from the edges. The neural sync was redlining. We weren't just sharing a connection anymore; we were leaking into each other. I could feel her panic, a sharp, metallic taste in the back of my throat that wasn't mine.

"Stop... stop fighting it," she gasped, her fingers digging into my shoulder. Her grip was shaking. "The sync... it's collapsing. I can't feel my left arm."

I looked down. Her arm was twitching, the skin turning a bruised, synthetic gray. The gene-collapse. We were literally falling apart because we'd pushed the plug-ins too far.

"You're an idiot," I spat, though I pulled her closer, pressing my chest against hers. The heat of her skin was the only thing keeping the static from swallowing me whole. "I told you that last jump would fry the bridge. Now look at us.