Chapter 16 · Ghost Echoes

"Stop talking. Just stop talking!" Vera screamed, her voice cracking as she slammed the holographic projector against the metal floor.

Static hissed. The figure flickered—a shimmering, jagged image of a man with a jagged scar across his jaw. It was Jax. Her partner. The man she’d watched get incinerated in the Sector 4 purge three years ago.

"Vera, you have to listen," the ghost said. The voice was a perfect match, every inflection, every rough edge. It wasn't just a recording. It was reacting. "Caspar didn't just scrap you. He's building something. A bridge. And you're the only key left."

"You're a lie," Vera spat, her chest heaving. She stepped forward, the heels of her combat boots clicking on the grating. "You're a piece of code Caspar threw in my path to mess with my head. Get out of my sight."

*I can't let her destroy the terminal,* Echo’s voice slid into her mind, cold and sharp. *Vera, look at the data stream. This isn't a loop. It's a live feed from a ghost server. He's actually—