Chapter 29 · Manual Override

"Tower's burning." Vera's hand clamps onto my shoulder. "We need to move. Now."

Through the cracked windshield, Dad's headquarters burns from the inside out. Fifty stories glow orange as flames crawl floor by floor.

Reyes's armored team sweeps the perimeter below. Rifles track every shadow. The alien buyer is gone, leaving only a black scorch mark where it stood—and me alive beside it.

"Alpha." My voice scrapes. "Status."

Nothing.

"Alpha."

My heart stutters against my ribs. Not the violent surge from a fight. This is slower. Wrong. Like an engine choking on bad fuel.

"She's not responding," I say.

Vera's face drains. "How long?"

"Since the broadcast. Since she picked me over Dad's mission."

Reyes reaches the SUV and yanks open my door. "Chen. You're coming to Defense headquarters. Your sister goes to medical."

"The tower first."

"Fire department's handling it."

"No, they aren't." I shove past her. "Dad's still inside, and so is the main server for the bug program."

Reyes steps in front of me. She's shorter, but built like a wall. "You can barely stand."

"I'm standing."

My knees shake hard enough to prove her point.

"Iris." Vera's doctor voice cuts through the sirens. "Your temperature's dropping.