Chapter 13 · The Resetter

"Step away from it." Cade's gun is up, aimed past my shoulder at the core.

I don't move. The chip's still hot in my hand, edges cutting into my palm. The thing in the core—the other me—is still smiling. Still looking right at me like she knows the punchline.

"Mara."

"Which one?" I say. My voice comes out flat. "Me or her?"

The screens flicker. Nix's voice drops out of every speaker at once, still using my cadence, my throat. "Both. Neither. Does it matter?"

"Yes," Cade says. He moves closer, boots crunching on glass. "It matters."

"Not to the machine." Nix sounds almost apologetic. "You signed the waiver, Mara. You wanted to be the anchor. You said if it worked, you'd never have to lose anyone again."

I turn the chip over in my hand. It's slick with coolant, ridged like a vertebra. "So I built this. I built the whole thing."

"You designed the protocol," Nix corrects. "Someone else built the box. You just made sure it could loop without killing you. Most of the time."

"Most?"

Cade's hand closes around my wrist. Not pulling. Just there. "Don't listen to it."

"It's using my voice," I say.