Chapter 16 · Reset Protocol - Chapter 16: Erin's Last Deal

"Don't touch that."

Erin's hand froze halfway to the core panel. The blue light made her fingers look dead already.

"I have to," she said. "Your partner bought us maybe ten minutes. The protocol's already rewriting the shutdown sequence."

Mark stepped closer. His right hand throbbed, the bones shifting under the skin like something trying to get out. "Then we find another way."

"There is no other way." Erin turned, and her eyes had that same flat look she'd worn when she first told him what the protocol really was. "The termination code needs an admin signature. I'm the only one left who has clearance."

"Had clearance," Mark said. "You told me yourself. You're locked out."

"Locked out of remote access." She pulled back her sleeve. Her forearm had the same geometric scars Lucas's daughter had shown them in the warehouse. "Not locked out of direct interface. But the core will read me as a defector. The second I plug in, it'll burn the signature path. I'll have maybe forty seconds to upload the code before my brain cooks."

Mark's hand spasmed. He looked down and watched his index finger bend backward, the joint reversing. It didn't hurt anymore.