Chapter 31 · If you leave me in, it can burn out my nervous system

"If you leave me in, it can burn out my nervous system."

"I know."

"And you're still watching."

"I'm still here."

Those four words struck harder than the simulated bullets.

The projection fired.

The shot hit Kane's chest.

Pain exploded through him. His back arched against the harness. The cockpit filled with the smell of hot metal and blood, though he knew neither was real.

"Kane!" Selena shouted.

He screamed.

Not from the pain.

From the faces around him.

Harrow. Mills. Chen. Ramos. The twins. Hundreds more. Every pilot lost during the first Purge. They stood packed into the corridor, staring through him.

The dead pressed close until their voices became one roar.

"Who betrayed us?"

Kane grabbed the control yoke.

"Victor did!"

The sim shook.

"Who opened the gate?"

"Victor did!"

"Who changed the orders?"

"Victor did!"

The dead surged forward.

"Who gave Selena the execution file?"

Kane's breath caught.

He knew the answer.

He had known it since the moment he returned.

The question wasn't part of the original trial.

Victor had inserted it.

Victor was listening.

"Kane, don't answer that," Selena said.

The projection of Selena turned her head.