Chapter 14 · The Count Is Wrong

"Lane's scared of something."

Victor said it quiet, but Ada heard. She was crouched next to the lift shaft, palm flat against the metal, feeling for vibration. Her head turned just enough that he caught the edge of her profile in the red emergency glow.

"Everyone here's scared of something," she said.

"Not like this." Victor moved closer, boots scraping concrete. The sound echoed wrong, like the walls were hollow. "He didn't flinch when I shot him in Loop Twelve. Didn't beg when you cut his throat in Fifteen. But when that counter dropped below five, he ran."

Ada stood. Wiped her palms on her thighs. "So?"

"So I need to know what breaks him."

She looked at him then, really looked. Her eyes were dark in this light, but he could still see the calculation running behind them. "You want to use him."

"I want to fool the system," Victor said. "The Arbiter's watching kill counts. It thinks we're playing by the rules. But if Lane loses it at the right moment, if he panics hard enough—"

"The system logs chaos, not kills." Ada finished the thought. Her mouth curved, just a little. Not quite a smile.