Chapter 31 · The cognition lab is three levels below the old Olympus exchange

He did, but slowly. His hand left my waist last.

The lift doors opened into a buried transit station. Half the platform had collapsed. Beyond the broken rails, an armored train waited with its engine running.

Jax stepped out first and scanned the darkness.

"The cognition lab is three levels below the old Olympus exchange," he said. "The train cuts through the restricted zone."

"And the cost?"

"My access key."

"That's all?"

"No."

He pulled a thin black chip from beneath the skin of his wrist. A line of blood followed it. He pressed the chip into the train console.

The doors unlocked.

"That key burns after one use," he said. "If we miss the lab, we don't get another route."

"So don't miss."

"You keep saying that like the universe listens to you."

"It should. I've killed people for less."

We boarded.

The train launched before the doors fully sealed. I grabbed a pole. Jax stumbled into me, one hand catching my shoulder. His chest hit mine. The impact drove the air out of both of us.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Ask me after you stop crashing into me."

"The train moved."

"You hacked the train. Hack the floor."