Chapter 23 · The Living Archive

"Move!" Samuel shoved Nora aside as a blade slammed into his pistol.

The machine wore her face.

Same jaw. Same blunt-cut hair. Same scar beside the left eyebrow. Only its eyes were wrong—red, bright, and empty.

"Run," Samuel said.

Nora caught the thing's wrist instead.

Cold metal burned through her gloves. The second heart beneath her ribs kicked once, hard enough to steal her breath.

Red light flashed inside the machine's chest. It jerked back with a broken, almost-human cry.

Tarin stared from the elevator threshold, blood sliding into one eye. He wiped it away and gave a weak laugh.

"Well," he said. "That's deeply upsetting."

The machine twisted free and slashed again.

Samuel stepped between them. His coat was torn, blood soaking his side, but his pistol stayed steady.

He fired.

The shot punched through the machine's shoulder. Brass and black fluid sprayed across the elevator doors. It barely slowed before kicking Samuel in the knee.

His leg buckled. Nora caught him under the arm.

"You okay?"

"Fantastic." He clenched his jaw. "Never better."

"You're bleeding through your shirt."

"And you're wrestling a murder version of yourself. We've all got problems."

The machine lunged.

Tarin threw the mother key.