Chapter 11 · Iron Arena - Chapter 11: The Champ's Old Scar

The clinic door slammed behind us and I wanted to punch something.

Lila stood in the narrow hallway, still shaking. Not from fear. From whatever the hell had just happened in that cockpit. Her pupils were blown wide, her breathing uneven, and when she looked at me it was like she was seeing through my skull.

"What did you see?" I kept my voice low. Ivy's clinic was three floors down from street level, buried under a noodle shop that didn't ask questions. But sound carried in these old buildings.

Lila didn't answer. She pressed her palms against the concrete wall like she needed something solid.

"Lila."

"Your memory," she said. Her voice came out wrong. Flat. "I saw your last sync. The one that ended your career."

I went cold.

"That's not possible."

"Yeah?" She turned to face me and her eyes were too bright. "Then explain why I just watched you collapse in a cockpit three years ago. Explain the blood coming out of your nose. Explain why your neural interface was smoking."

I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward Ivy's exam room.