Chapter 29 · The Prison Outside

"You shoot me again," Victor said, "and we both stay here forever."

Ada kept the gun level. Blood ran down his chest from where she'd put the last round through his sternum. The core room hummed around them, server racks stacked floor to ceiling, all of them blinking green except the center column. That one pulsed red.

"You said the exit's open," Ada said. "So walk."

"Not without killing this thing first." Victor stepped toward the center rack. Ada moved with him, barrel tracking his head. "If we leave it running, it just pulls us back. You get that, right?"

"I get that you've been lying since loop one."

"Yeah." He didn't deny it. "But I'm not lying now."

The Arbiter's voice came through every speaker at once. "Victor Kane. Step away from the core. You have no authority to terminate this instance."

"Watch me," Victor said.

Ada's finger tightened on the trigger. "What happens when you pull that plug?"

"We stop coming back."

"We?"

"Me. You. Everyone still in the loop." Victor reached for the main breaker. "One death. That's all we get after this."

"Then why the hell would you—"

"Because it's the only way out that sticks."