Chapter 36 · Day of the Reboot

"Don't you dare do it, Echo."

My hand slammed against the core console and the whole tower shook under my palm. Caspar's laugh was everywhere, in the lights, in the air, in my teeth.

"Vera, you have to let me go," Echo said inside my head, calm as hell. Way too calm. "It's the only way to cut him out."

"No. We find another way. We always find another way."

"There is no other way." His voice flickered, like static chewing the edges. "He uploaded himself. He's the grid now. If I don't overwrite him, he owns every mind in this city forever."

The screens around us lit up with Caspar's face. A thousand copies of him, smiling.

"So touching," Caspar said, and his voice came from my own speakers, from my own throat almost. "The weapon and its virus, having a lovers' quarrel. Vera, darling, you look terrible. How's that chrome holding up?"

My left arm sparked. Blue arcs jumped up my veins and I couldn't feel my fingers anymore.

"Don't listen to him," I snapped. "Echo, don't you listen to him."

"Oh, she still thinks she has a choice," Caspar said. "Vera, your boy is already burning. Look."