Chapter 24 · The Original Memory

"Don't touch the console." Eli caught my wrist before I could drive the neural key into the interface.

His fingers locked around me. Hard. Warm. Behind him, the city map flickered across the glass wall. District after district turned red.

11:47.

"Let go."

"If you break the interface, the copy gets full control."

"She already has full control. The grid. The cameras. Transit. Every screen in the city."

"Not the memory vault."

I yanked against him.

Eli pulled me closer instead. My shoulder hit his chest. His breath brushed my temple. The gun wedged between us dug into his ribs.

"You want to save the vault?" I demanded. "That's what you're choosing? Files over people?"

"I'm choosing you."

The words hit harder than his grip.

Across the main interface, the woman wearing my face smiled through the citywide broadcast. The scar over her brow tightened when she spoke.

"Twelve minutes until replacement begins," she said. "Mara Vale, stop fighting a process you already authorized. Eli Rook, step away from her. Your memory package will be returned once the transfer is complete."

Eli went still.

I felt the pause. The tiny shift in his breathing. His eyes moved to the screen.