Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“Stay alive this time.”

Cassian’s voice barely survived the chaos around them.

But Luca heard it.

Every syllable.

Every exhausted breath.

Every unspoken goodbye hidden beneath it.

The chamber shook violently as the neural core surged overhead in waves of blinding white light. Sparks exploded from shattered panels across the walls while warning alarms screamed endlessly through the underground facility.

“ABSORPTION FAILURE IMMINENT.”

Cassian convulsed hard against the synchronization chair.

A sharp cry tore from his throat before he could suppress it.

Luca grabbed the sides of the chair helplessly.

“Cassian”

“Do it,” Cassian gasped.

Blood slid from the corner of his mouth.

Luca shook his head immediately.

“No.”

Another violent surge slammed through the system.

The floor beneath them cracked sharply.

Damon tightened his hold around Mira nearby while Seraphine struggled to stabilize the failing console systems beside Hale.

The entire facility was collapsing faster now.

And everybody knew it.

But Luca couldn’t move.

Couldn’t think.

Because Cassian was dying in front of him.

Not like a weapon.

Not like an operative.

Like a person.

And somehow that made it unbearable.

Cassian forced his eyes open again through obvious agony.

“You always hesitate.”

Luca’s chest tightened painfully.

“You’re asking me to kill you.”

Cassian laughed weakly.

A broken sound swallowed immediately by alarms.

“No,” he whispered.

“You’re finally letting me choose.”

The words hit harder than anything else tonight.

Because Cassian had never been allowed choices before.

Not once.

Not when Vale turned him into a human shield.

Not when Hale conditioned him into obedience.

Not even when they forced him to absorb pain that was never his to carry.

And now

This was the first decision that truly belonged to him.

Luca’s breathing shook violently.

“Luca!”

Hale’s sharp voice cut through the chamber.

Luca looked toward him instinctively.

The neural core behind Hale pulsed wildly while corrupted data flashed across the central monitors.

“The severance window is destabilizing,” Hale snapped.

“If you wait longer, the overload will rebound into the entire system.”

Meaning everyone connected would die instantly.

Mira.

Cassian.

Luca.

Maybe even Damon if he remained inside the neural field radius.

Damon looked sharply toward Luca.

Fear naked in his eyes now.

Not hidden anymore.

“Can you do it?”

Luca looked toward the core.

Toward the massive machine built from years of suffering and stolen childhoods.

He remembered this room.

Not clearly.

But enough.

Children strapped into chairs.

Screaming until sedatives silenced them.

Vale observing behind reinforced glass.

Hale standing beside her in silence.

And Luca

Small.

Terrified.

Trying not to cry because crying meant more punishment.

His stomach twisted violently.

“I remember this place,” he whispered.

Damon moved toward him instantly despite Mira still clinging weakly to his arm.

“Stay with me.”

Luca looked at him.

Really looked at him.

And suddenly

Everything slowed.

Not the alarms.

Not the collapsing room.

Just the panic inside him.

Because Damon was there.

Still there.

After every terrible truth.

After every memory.

After learning Luca killed his mother.

Still choosing him.

Damon touched his face carefully.

Grounding him again.

Always grounding him.

“You are not that child anymore.”

Luca almost broke from the gentleness in his voice.

“You don’t understand,” Luca whispered shakily.

“I can still feel it.”

“What?”

“The conditioning.”

Silence.

Luca swallowed hard.

“When Hale gives orders…”

A pause.

“When Vale speaks…”

Another pause.

“Part of me still wants to obey.”

The confession cracked something open inside the room.

Even Seraphine stopped moving for a second.

Because that was the true horror of what they’d done.

Not violence.

Not training.

Ownership.

They built children who feared disobedience more than pain.

Damon’s expression shattered quietly.

“Luca…”

Luca laughed weakly through tears threatening again.

“You know what the worst part is?”

Damon shook his head slowly.

“I still don’t know who I would’ve been without them.”

That silence afterward felt enormous.

Heavy enough to crush the room.

Because Luca genuinely believed his identity belonged to his abusers.

And Damon hated that.

God, he hated that.

Damon grabbed Luca’s face firmly.

Not letting him disappear into the memories.

“They made your trauma,” Damon said sharply.

“They did not make your soul.”

Luca froze.

Damon’s voice shook now with emotion.

With fury.

With love.

“You think kindness came from them?”

He pointed toward Mira weakly curled against the wall nearby.

“You protected her when you were just a child yourself.”

Luca’s breath caught.

“You think they taught you that?”

Another memory surfaced instantly.

Young Luca secretly sneaking food into Mira’s room after punishments.

Young Cassian silently helping him avoid cameras.

Damon continued before Luca could retreat again.

“You think they taught you how to love?”

Luca’s eyes burned.

“No.”

“Exactly.”

Damon rested his forehead briefly against Luca’s.

“They taught fear.”

A pause.

“You survived long enough to become something better anyway.”

Luca physically trembled.

Because Damon said it like fact.

Like certainty.

Like truth.

And somewhere deep inside himself

A piece of Luca finally started believing it.

The core suddenly surged violently again.

The chamber lights exploding overhead.

Cassian screamed.

Everyone snapped back into motion instantly.

“ABSORPTION THRESHOLD CRITICAL.”

Blood poured down Cassian’s neck now from overloaded neural ports.

His body shaking uncontrollably against the restraints.

Luca rushed back toward him immediately.

Cassian forced his eyes open weakly.

“There you are.”

Luca gripped his hand tightly.

Ignoring the electricity burning across the chair.

“You’re not dying.”

Cassian smiled faintly.

“You still lie badly.”

Another tremor split the floor nearby.

Concrete collapsed from the ceiling.

The facility was beginning to cave in around them.

Seraphine cursed sharply.

“We have maybe minutes before this place buries us alive!”

Hale continued working rapidly across the failing console.

But Luca noticed something strange suddenly.

Hale’s hands were shaking.

Very slightly.

But enough.

Luca stared at him.

“You knew.”

Hale didn’t look up.

“You knew what they were doing to him.”

Silence.

Cassian’s weak laugh echoed through the room.

“Careful,” he rasped.

“You might make him feel guilty.”

Hale finally looked toward the chair.

Toward Cassian.

And for the first time

Luca saw something horrifying in his expression.

Not indifference.

Regret.

Real regret.

“You exceeded every projected survival rate,” Hale said quietly.

Cassian stared at him in disbelief.

“That’s what you say to me now?”

Hale looked away first.

Because there was no answer good enough.

Vale’s furious voice exploded through the speakers again.

“Arthur, disconnect the transfer immediately!”

Interesting.

Hale ignored her again.

“No.”

The room went still.

Even Damon looked shocked.

Vale’s voice sharpened dangerously.

“You are sacrificing years of research for emotional instability.”

Hale’s expression hardened instantly.

“No,” he said coldly.

A pause.

“You sacrificed children for your ego.”

Silence detonated across the chamber.

Because Hale had finally chosen a side.

Too late.

Far too late.

But still

He chose.

Vale laughed softly.

Cold.

Cruel.

“And suddenly you discovered morality?”

Hale looked toward Luca.

Then Mira.

Then Cassian dying in the chair.

His voice dropped lower.

Heavier.

“No.”

A pause.

“I discovered consequences.”

The neural core erupted violently.

The entire chamber shaking hard enough to throw Seraphine sideways against the console.

“SEVERANCE WINDOW COLLAPSING.”

Hale snapped toward Luca instantly.

“NOW!”

Everything happened at once.

Damon grabbed Mira protectively as sparks exploded overhead.

Seraphine fought to keep the system stable.

Cassian screamed against the overload consuming his nervous system.

And Luca

Luca stepped toward the neural core.

The machine pulsed brighter the closer he got.

Recognizing him.

Welcoming him.

His body reacted instinctively.

Conditioning buried deep beneath his skin waking painfully.

ACCESS RECOGNIZED.

PRIMARY SUBJECT DETECTED.

Luca physically recoiled.

Because even now

The system still belonged to him.

No.

Not anymore.

Damon moved beside him instantly.

“You’re not alone.”

Luca looked at him shakily.

And suddenly

He remembered the first time Damon touched him gently.

Not with fear.

Not with violence.

Just warmth.

The memory steadied him enough to breathe again.

Luca reached toward the core interface slowly.

White light wrapped around his hand immediately.

Burning.

Pain exploded through his nervous system.

He gasped sharply.

Memories crashed into him all at once.

Years of conditioning.

Years of blood.

Years of screaming children hidden underground.

And beneath all of it

One terrible truth finally surfaced completely.

The night Damon’s mother died

Luca had been crying too.