Chapter 11 · Neon Betrayal

"Don't touch that wire. Don't even think about it."

Eve's hand slammed down over mine and pinned it to the med-pod's console. Her nails dug in. The ghost signal was screaming right over our heads, that high, drilling wail, and the red lock-light strobed her face every half second.

"You pull that and we fry," she hissed. "That's the tether line. You want to sync or you want to die stupid?"

"I want to not get eaten," I snapped. My wrist twisted under hers. Her skin was ice cold. Mine was burning. "Those spiders are chewing through the outer hatch. You hear that?"

I did. Scratch. Scratch. Thunk. Three of them, maybe four, spider drones the size of dogs, legs punching into the pod's hull. The med-pod was supposed to be a safe box. Now it was a can with us locked inside.

"We have twenty seconds before they breach," Eve said. Her voice was flat, but her pulse was hammering against my palm where she still held me. "We sync now. Or we fight them as two crashing systems and we both bleed out."

"Yeah, great options," I said. "Trust you or die. Love that for me.