Chapter 18 · Neon Deadline: Glitch Hunt - Chapter 18: Blood-Sync Panic

"Get your hands off me!" I screamed, but my voice didn't even sound like mine. It sounded like a corrupted audio file, skipping and looping.

Seth didn't let go. He had me pinned against the cold metal bulkhead of the safehouse, his fingers digging into my shoulders. The air between us was thick with the smell of ozone and burnt circuitry. My vision flickered. For a second, I didn't see him—I saw a wireframe version of his skeleton, pulsing in neon red.

"Stop fighting it," Seth hissed. His face was inches from mine. I could feel the heat radiating off his skin, a sharp contrast to the freezing chill of the glitch. "The sync is unstable. If you keep pushing, you're going to fry both our neural nets."

"I can't... I can't breathe," I gasped. My chest tightened. Every time I tried to inhale, a jagged spike of static shot through my spine.

He didn't pull away. Instead, he leaned closer, his chest pressing against mine, forcing me to feel the heavy, steady thrum of his heart. It was the only thing in the room that wasn't glitching.