Chapter 26 · The Original Core

"Move!" Alpha barked.

The floor dropped under Iris's boots.

She grabbed Vera's jacket. Vera grabbed the server rack. Neither grip held. Metal screamed below them, and a crack split the tiles between their feet.

"I noticed!" Vera snapped.

The crack burst open.

Hot air blasted up, carrying burned plastic, old blood, and a syrup-sweet stink that turned Iris's stomach. Something below beat once.

The room shook.

It beat again. Every dead monitor flashed white. The metal in Iris's chest answered with a hard, painful thump.

"Unknown system detected," Alpha said. "Core mass exceeds all registered combat units."

Vera stared into the widening gap. "How big?"

"Too big."

"That's not a measurement."

"It's the only one you're getting."

The floor gave way.

Iris wrapped an arm around Vera's waist and threw them both toward a support pillar. The data room collapsed behind them. Server racks tipped into the hole. Cables snapped. One monitor hit the floor and kept playing their mother's last recording through the dust.

Richard's voice.

Elizabeth choking.

Then a wet mechanical click.

Vera's breath caught. "No. No, no—"

"I've got you."

"You can't hold me and fight whatever that is."

"Watch me.