Chapter 17 · Neon Bait

"Stop moving, Kael. You're leaking blood on my favorite simulation."

Nyx’s voice didn’t come from the air. It echoed inside my skull, sharp and mocking, vibrating against my prefrontal cortex. I was slumped against a grease-stained wall in a basement that smelled like ozone and old copper. My left arm was numb, the skin shimmering with a pale, digital glitch that refused to stabilize.

"Shut up," I spat, clutching the wound in my side. "I thought you said the perimeter was clear."

"It was," she countered. I could feel her presence shifting in my mind, like a cold current of water swirling around my consciousness. "Until you decided to play hero and take a plasma bolt for a piece of encrypted hardware that isn't even compatible with your current OS. Honestly, your instinct for self-preservation is pathetic."

I groaned, sliding down the wall until my ass hit the damp concrete. I looked down at the data-core in my hand—a jagged shard of obsidian glass pulsing with a rhythmic, violet light. This was the bait. The kind of high-tier corporate tech that made people disappear from the census records.

"We need to move," I whispered, my voice sounding wrecked.