Chapter 33 · Iron Arena - Chapter 33: Calibration Starts

The gate sealed behind us with a sound like a coffin lid. I knew that sound. I'd heard it three years ago, the last time I let them wire me into a calibration rig.

The chamber was small. White walls, white floor, two sync chairs bolted dead center with about six feet between them. Lila stood frozen by the entrance, staring at the chairs like they might bite her. Her hands were still shaking from the qualifier match. From what she'd done to pull me out of that neural spiral.

"Cole." Her voice cracked. "What is this?"

I didn't answer right away. I was too busy reading the chamber. The sync nodes embedded in the ceiling, the biometric scanners built into the chair arms, the neural dampeners humming in the walls. All of it standard league calibration tech. All of it designed to push a pilot to the edge and measure exactly when they broke.

"It's a test," I said finally. Kept my voice flat. "They want to see how high your sync ceiling is."

"And if I can't—"

"You'll be fine." The lie tasted like copper. "Sit down."

She didn't move.