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The train smells like burnt plastic and someone's lunch.
Iris Chen's got her head against the window, eyes half-closed, trying not to think about rent or the shift waiting for her or the fact that her phone won't stop buzzing. Vera. Again. She doesn't look. She already knows.
*Come home. Dad wants to talk. Why are you being difficult.*
She's twenty-two and she's already tired.
The guy next to her's eating chips. Loud ones. Every crunch cuts through her earbuds. Across from her some kid's kicking the seat. His mom's on her phone, not looking. Iris closes her eyes. Forty minutes to the restaurant. Six hours of delivering food to people who don't tip. Then home to the apartment she shares with three other dropouts who leave dishes in the sink.
Better than Dad's place.
Better than listening to Vera talk about her residency applications.
The train slows. Not a station. Just—slowing.
Iris opens her eyes. People are looking up now. The lights flicker.
Once.
Twice.
The world breaks.
The explosion isn't loud. That's what she'll remember. It's pressure. Something huge shoving all the air out at once. Windows shatter inward and she's on the floor and there's screaming and the lights cut and someone's bleeding on her leg.
She tries to stand. Can't.
Her ears ring. Metal taste in her mouth. She reaches for her phone but her hand won't work right. Everything's sideways. The train car's tilted and she's at the bottom of it. People climbing over each other to get out.
Someone steps on her ribs.
She gasps. Tries to push up. Her hand slips in something wet.
Blood. A lot of it.
She doesn't know if it's hers.
Emergency lights kick on. Red. Flashing. She sees chip guy. He's not moving. His neck's bent wrong.
Iris's chest hurts.
She presses her hand there and it comes away dark.
Oh.
That's hers.
She tries to breathe and it's like sucking air through a straw. Something's broken inside. She knows that feeling. Broke two ribs skateboarding when she was sixteen. This is worse.
People still screaming. Still climbing. Getting out. She's at the bottom and no one's stopping.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket.
Vera. Probably.
*Sorry I missed your call. I'm dying in a subway car that smells like piss and burnt hair.*
Then she hears it.
Something moving at the other end of the train. Not a person. The sound's wrong. Glass scraping metal. Something with too many legs.
Iris turns her head. Vision blurs. She blinks. Emergency lights flash red and in the dark between she sees it.
Size of a dog. Maybe bigger. Crawling out of the hole in the side of the train. The hole that wasn't there before.
It's translucent. Like ice. Like crystal. Edges catching the red light. Too many legs. Six. Eight. She can't count. They end in points.
It clicks.
It moves toward the people at the door.
Fast.
Someone screams. Different scream. The thing lunges and there's a crunch and the screaming stops.
Iris tries to push back. Her hand slips. She falls. Head hits the floor.
Everything goes white.
When she blinks again the thing's closer. Eating. She can hear it. Wet sounds. She's going to throw up. Tries to move. Can't. Chest on fire. Can't breathe.
Her heart skips.
Then stops.
She feels it stop. You're not supposed to feel that. But she does. Like a door closing. Last light going out.
*This is it.*
She's twenty-two. College dropout. Haven't spoken to Dad in three months. Going to die on a subway next to chip guy.
Vera's going to be so pissed.
Then something kicks.
Not her heart.
Something else.
Something under her ribs.
Metal. Cold. Hard. A rhythm that isn't hers.
*Thump.*
*Thump.*
*Thump.*
Her chest burns. Not broken-rib burning. Different. Inside. Like something waking up under her skin. She gasps and air fills her lungs. Too much. It hurts.
The crystal thing stops eating.
It turns.
Looks at her.
No eyes but she knows.
Iris tries to move. Her body listens this time. She rolls onto her side. Hand finds the metal pole. Pulls herself up. Legs shaking. Chest still on fire but she's standing.
The thing clicks.
Moves toward her.
She backs up. Nowhere to go. Train car's tilted. She's at the bottom.
"Okay," she says. Voice doesn't sound like hers. "Okay, come on."
The thing lunges.
She's going to die.
Then the voice speaks.
In her head. Cold. Flat. Not human.
"Want to live?"
Iris doesn't answer. Can't. The thing's midair. She can see its legs. Sharp. Pointed. Coming for her face.
"Kill what's inside the train."
Her right arm moves.
She doesn't tell it to. It just moves. Fast. Too fast. Her hand comes up and something unfolds.
Metal. Blades.
She doesn't have time to scream.
Her arm goes through the thing's center.
It shrieks. Not sound. Vibration. She feels it in her teeth. The thing shatters. Pieces hit the floor like broken glass. Twitches. Goes still.
Iris is standing there. Arm still up. Blood on her sleeve.
No. Not blood. Something clear. Slick.
She looks at her hand.
Metal under her skin. She can see it. Silver lines running up her forearm. Blades folded back into her wrist. She tries to move her fingers.
The metal moves with her.
*What the hell.*
Her chest's still burning. The rhythm's still there. *Thump. Thump. Thump.* Not her heart. Something else.
"What did you do to me?"
The voice doesn't answer.
She looks down at the thing on the floor. It's melting. Pieces turning to liquid. Clear. Like water. Soaking into the cracks. Ten seconds and it's gone.
Iris backs up. Hits the wall. Legs give out. She sits. Hard.
Presses her hand to her chest. Under her ribs. She can feel it.
Metal. Beating.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Again.
This time the voice answers.
"Kept you alive." Pause. "You're welcome."
Iris laughs. Sounds wrong. Shaky.
"Who are you?"
"Designation Alpha. Combat AI. Prototype Seven."
Iris stares at the ceiling. Emergency lights still flashing. Sirens outside. Far away.
"I have a robot in my chest."
"Correct."
"I'm going insane."
"Unlikely. Your vitals are stable."
She closes her eyes. Opens them. World's still there. Still tilted. Still smells like burnt plastic. Still has broken glass where the thing was.
"There are more," the voice says.
Iris goes still.
"More what."
"Targets. Three levels up. Moving toward civilians."
"I don't care."
"You will."
Her right arm moves. Not her choice. Blades unfold. She jerks back.
"Stop that!"
"You want to live. You kill. Simple."
"I want to go home."
"No home if the targets reach the surface."
Iris looks at her hand. At the metal. At the blades that came out of her skin like they belong there.
She thinks about Vera. Perfect sister in her perfect apartment with her perfect life. The texts she didn't answer.
*Come home. Dad wants to talk. Why are you being difficult.*
She stands.
"How do I stop them?"
The voice almost sounds pleased.
"Follow my lead. Don't die. We'll figure out the rest."
Iris looks at the hole in the side of the train. At the darkness beyond. At the emergency lights flashing red on metal that shouldn't be under her skin.
Her phone buzzes again.
She doesn't look.
"Let's go," she says.
The blades hum.
Somewhere above, something