LOGINThe world turned cold and blue. The glass floor had vanished, and I was falling. I hit the water hard, the impact knocking the air from my lungs. I squeezed Elle against my chest, my heart screaming. I couldn't let her go. I couldn't let her drown in this nightmare.
The water was salty and dark. Above me, the lights of the glass house looked like dying stars. I kicked my legs, fighting to stay near the surface, but
I fell through the void. It was not a long drop, but it felt like I was falling through years of wasted time. My stomach turned, and the air around me felt like thick, hot oil. Then, I hit solid ground. I landed on my knees in a long, dark hallway. My breath came out in short, sharp gasps. My body ached, but I did not stop. I forced myself to stand.The walls here were not made of marble or gold. They were made of plain, grey concrete. It looked like the basement of a very old building. This place did not belong to the high-tech world of the Architect. This felt like the real world. I looked at the floor and saw dust. I touched it. It was real dust. I was back in the physical plane.I remembered the screen. The woman with the knife. Bryan was in one of these rooms, and I had to find him before that woman did. I ran down the hall, my feet slapping against the ha
My hand hovered over the red wire. The Bryan-thing stepped toward me, its silver blades dripping with oil that looked like black blood. It did not fear death. It was just a machine waiting for its next instruction. I looked at the glass tubes outside the window. Thousands of people were trapped in there. My world, my friends, my past, it was all stored in that factory.If I pulled the wire, the pod would blow apart. I would go with it. But the energy from the blast might wipe out the data in the factory. It might set everyone free."Do it," the Bryan-thing said. Its voice was flat. "If you destroy this pod, you destroy the only bridge back to your memories. You will lose everything you are. You will become nothing."I looked at the ink on my arm. The words were not just code. They were my story. If I lost my memory, I lost the revenge I had planned for the Publisher. I lost the feeling of the rain on my face. I lost the way I felt when I thought of the real Bryan."I would rather be n
I stared at the thing sitting next to me. It had Bryan’s face. It had his smile. It even had the way he tilted his head when he was thinking. But the blue circles in its eyes were dead. They did not blink. They did not show warmth. They just looked at me like a camera looking at a scene.My heart felt heavy in my chest. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but I stopped myself. If I touched him, would I feel skin, or would I feel the cold, hard surface of a machine? I did not want to know. I looked down at my hands. The purple ink was still there. It was creeping up my wrists, forming words that I could not read yet. The "Writer" was inside me, and she was watching everything I did."Why are you looking at me like that, Hazel?" the thing said. Its voice was smooth. Too smooth. It sounded like a recording played through a speaker. "We are safe now. The city is gone. The Publisher is gone. We can finally start our life."I bit my lip to keep from shaking. "Who made you?" I asked. My
The escape pod bobbed on the dark waves of the ocean. Inside, the air was thick and smelled like burnt wires. I sat frozen, my back against the cold metal wall. Bryan was right in front of me, checking a small screen to see if we were being followed. He looked so real. I could see the sweat on his forehead and the way his chest moved as he breathed."We made it, Hazel," he said, turning to smile at me. "The city is gone. The Publisher is finished. We can finally go home."He reached out to touch my hand, but I pulled away as if his skin were on fire. My heart was thumping so hard it hurt. I looked at the corner of the pod. The teenager with the gold teeth was still there, leaning against the door. No one else could see him. He was a ghost in the machine, a glitch that only I could hear."He's lying to you," the boy
I stood between two versions of myself. On my left, the teenager with the gold teeth gripped my hand. His skin was warm, and he smelled like rain. He felt real. On my right, my own physical body stood tall, her eyes glowing with a terrifying purple light. She looked like a goddess, but she felt as cold as a machine."Don't listen to him, Hazel!" my real body shouted. Her voice didn't come from her mouth; it echoed directly inside my brain. "The city is falling. If we don't merge right now, Bryan drops into the ocean. I am the only one with the power to stop the crash!""She's a trick, Hazel!" the teenager yelled. He was sweating, his eyes wide with fear. "If you step back into that body while the 'Writer' code is active, you won't be Hazel anymore. You’ll be a tool for the Mainframe. You’ll become the very monster we’ve been fighting!"
The small metal ball rolled across the white marble, spinning until it tapped against my boot. My heart stopped. I looked up and saw Bryan. He was standing at the edge of the floating city, his face covered in grease and blood. His eyes were full of hate as he looked at me. To him, I was Elena, the cold daughter of the man who had ruined our lives."Bryan, no! It’s me! It’s Hazel!" I tried to scream.But my voice came out in that high, glass-sharp tone of the Director. Bryan didn't hear my heart; he only heard the enemy’s voice. He ducked behind a marble pillar, waiting for the blast."Die, you monster!" Bryan yelled.I didn't have time to explain. I dove to the left, my gold cloak flapping like wings.
The glass wall was thick, cold, and stood between me and my soul. On the other side, the floor was sliding open like a hungry mouth. Jane was screaming, her fingers clawing at the edge of the pit, while Elle’s crib tilted dangerously toward the dark hole.
The screen in front of me felt like a slap in the face. I watched Bryan, the man who had bled for me, the man I had nearly died to save, standing calmly in front of a mirror. He wasn’t a prisoner. He was preparing. He slid the glowing blue lenses into his eye
The black coin sat on my white hospital bed like an open wound. It was cold and heavy. I stared at the symbol of a snake biting its own tail. I had seen that exact mark on the silver lighter the man used to start the fire that killed my parents. My breath hitched i
The sound of Damien’s laughter from the hallway sliced through me like a jagged blade. He was still on the phone with Jane. His voice was light, teasing, and full of a warmth he had never once offered me in five years.My hands shook as I pulled the zipper on my suitcase. It was done.I looked at t







