Chapter 13 · The Forbidden Battery

"Stop shaking, Kai. You're making the connection unstable," Eve hissed, her voice trembling despite the command.

She had me pinned against the cold metal of the medical pod, her fingers digging into my shoulders. Her skin was burning—not with fever, but with that jagged, electrical heat of a crashing Protocol. I could feel it humming through her palms, a desperate, starving energy that wanted to rip through my chest and take everything I had.

"Maybe if you didn't treat me like a fucking AA battery, I'd be more steady," I spat back. I tried to pull away, but she surged forward, closing the gap until her forehead pressed against mine.

Her eyes were blown wide, the irises flickering with static. "You don't get it. If my system drops another five percent, I don't just crash. I erase. Everything I am, every memory, every scrap of power... gone. Now hold still."

I felt the sharp sting of the interface needle sliding into the base of my neck. I groaned, my head snapping back against the pod. The Blood Protocol didn't just flow; it roared.