Chapter 34 · The Kill Switch Protocol

"Don't let him finish the sequence, Vera!"

Echo's voice ripped straight through my skull, raw and frayed at the edges. Not his usual smug, smooth asshole tone. This was static. Panic.

My body wouldn't move. Caspar had me pinned flat against the server spine, one chrome hand locked around my throat, not squeezing, just holding. Like I was a device he was about to unplug.

"Shh," Caspar said, soft. He smiled down at me. His eyes never left my face. "He's loud when he's scared, isn't he?"

"Get your hand off me," I snarled. My fingers scrabbled at his wrist. My chrome arm sparked and stuttered. Nothing. No power.

"You don't get to give orders anymore, Vera. You never did." He tapped his temple with his free hand. A holo bloomed between us. Lines of code. A progress bar. KILL SWITCH PROTOCOL: 17% "See? I'm just cleaning up my property."

"She's not your property!" Echo shouted inside my head, and my whole nervous system lit up with his feedback, a white-hot buzz behind my teeth. "Vera, he's wiping me! He's wiping my root drive!"

"So what?" I choked out. My throat burned against Caspar's palm. "Fight him!