Chapter 19 · What the hell is this?

Before I could even reach for the chip, a high-frequency pulse ripped through the room. It wasn't Silas's usual correction—it was a full-scale system override. The lights in the data center turned a violent, bleeding red.

My vision flickered. A HUD overlay appeared in my eyes, but it wasn't the standard Orion interface. It was corrupted. Red text scrolled rapidly across my field of vision:

[CRITICAL ERROR: IDENTITY MISMATCH] [RESTORATION PROTOCOL: DENIED] [USER 'ELENA' IS DECEASED]

"What the hell is this?" I screamed, clutching my head. The noise was deafening—a thousand overlapping voices, all of them sounding like me, all of them screaming in different tones of agony.

"Hera, get out of there," Silas commanded. His voice was no longer a purr; it was a roar. "The facility is purging. Now!"

I scrambled toward the chip, my fingers brushing the cold glass of the floor. Just as I gripped the amber plastic, the ground shook. A massive security drone, a jagged sphere of chrome and lasers, smashed through the ceiling, landing between me and the exit.

It didn't fire. It just hovered, its red eye scanning me.

"Target identified," the drone droned in a flat, synthesized voice. "Subject: Elena.