Chapter 24 · The Back Door

"You're not doing this."

Ada's got her hand on my wrist before I can touch the console. The core access terminal hums between us, throwing blue light across her face. She looks like hell. We both do. Sixteen loops since we found this room. Sixteen times watching the system try to patch itself while we carved deeper.

"Let go," I say.

"No."

I could break her grip. She knows it. I know it. But her fingers are shaking and she's not letting go anyway.

"Victor, listen to me—"

"I am listening. You found the logs. You saw what I did before I got sent to death row." I keep my voice flat. "Eleven people. You read the files. You know what I am."

"I know what you were," she snaps. "I also know you've died forty-three times keeping me alive in here. So don't pull this martyr bullshit on me now."

The console beeps. Authorization required. I've got the core key in my jacket pocket. The one we pulled out of the Arbiter's subprocessor three loops ago.