Chapter 9 · Neon Zero - Chapter 9: The Death Clock

"Don't let go of me." Knox's hand locked around my wrist as the clinic doors buckled behind us. "Mara, look at me. Stay inside the link."

"I am looking at you." I shoved my shoulder into the steel cabinet between us and the entrance. "You're the one bleeding on the floor."

"That isn't my blood."

"Then stop dripping it on my boots."

The doors slammed inward.

A white drone rolled through the gap, its scanner eye glowing red. Behind it came two Cleaners in black armor, rifles raised, faceplates blank. The clinic's emergency lights flashed across their helmets.

Tessa threw a metal tray at the first one. "Mara, move!"

Knox yanked me down before the tray hit. A pulse round cracked over our heads and punched through the cabinet. Hot metal kissed my cheek.

My health bar stuttered.

[LINK INTEGRITY: 42%] [SHARED HEALTH: 15%] [IDENTITY PURGE: 00:06:48]

Six minutes and forty-eight seconds.

That was all the system had left before it erased our names, records, access codes, and every legal trace that said we existed. After that, the city would classify us as disposable bodies.

Knox dragged me behind the examination table. His chest pressed against my back.