Chapter 16 · Backfire

"Let go -- Zero, let go!" Kael choked as her hands locked around his throat and slammed him back against the console.

His fingers scrabbled at her wrists. Nothing moved. Her grip was steel.

"Zero! Hey! Look at me!" He gasped. "That's not you! That's not you doing this!"

Her eyes were open but wrong. Pupils blown wide, black eating the grey. A thin red line pulsed behind them. Code scrolling. The sleeper command.

Inside, she was screaming.

"I can't -- Kael, I can't stop it!" Her voice came out strangled, layered under the static of the link. "It's pulling -- it's pulling my hands!"

"Then pull back!" He kicked against the deck, trying to get leverage. His airway narrowed. Spots burst in his vision. "You fought the pain circuit! Fight this!"

"I'm trying!" Her thumbs dug deeper. Her whole body shook. Not from effort. From the war inside. "It says -- it says erase the error. It says you're the error!"

"Yeah? Well tell it I'm not!" He wheezed. He got one hand up, palm flat against her cheek. Her skin was burning hot. Sweat on her forehead. Tears tracking down. "Hey. Hey, Zero. Feel that? That's me.