Chapter 33 · Reset Protocol - Chapter 33: New Archive Subject

"Mark, get back!"

Vera's voice, but not her words. The thing wearing her face lunged at me, bone spurs tearing through the shoulders of her jacket. I threw myself sideways. My right hand hit concrete, claws scraping sparks.

The protocol core pulsed behind her. Blue light washed the loading dock in waves. Every pulse made the mods under my skin twist harder.

"Vera, I know you're in there."

"Subject 290 no longer responds to that designation." Her mouth moved, but the rhythm was wrong. Too flat. Too precise. "Archive procedure in progress. Interference will result in immediate specimen termination."

I could feel my ribs starting to split. New bone pushing outward. I had maybe three minutes before the mods ripped through muscle and turned me into something the protocol could bag and file.

"Yeah?" I coughed blood onto my sleeve. "Then terminate me. But you're gonna have to get past her first."

Vera's body stopped. Head tilted. Like the system was processing.

"Psychological attachment detected," it said through her mouth. "Exploit potential: high."

She moved faster than anything human. I got my left arm up just in time. Her hand closed around my wrist.