Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Cassian screamed.

The sound tore through the chamber so violently even the neural core flickered.

Electricity burst across the synchronization chair in brutal waves, lighting the underground room in blinding white-blue flashes while warning alarms screamed endlessly overhead.

“OVERLOAD CASCADE IN PROGRESS.”

Blood streamed from Cassian’s nose and ears now.

His body convulsing uncontrollably against the restraints locking him into the chair.

And suddenly

Everything crashed back into reality.

The truth about Damon’s mother.

The unraveling memories.

The emotional devastation.

None of it mattered if Cassian died before they shut the system down.

“Cassian!”

Luca rushed toward him instantly.

The closer he got to the chair, the stronger the neural field became.

Pain shot violently through his skull.

Memories flashing in fractured bursts.

Children crying.

Metal restraints.

Vale’s voice.

And Cassian

Always Cassian

Sitting in this same chair.

Over and over again.

Luca physically staggered.

Because suddenly he understood something horrifying.

This wasn’t the first time Cassian absorbed overload for him.

It was just the first time Luca remembered.

Fragments slammed into him violently.

Young Luca convulsing during synchronization training.

The system destabilizing.

Warning alarms blaring.

And small thirteen-year-old Cassian dragged into the chair beside him while doctors shouted instructions.

Young Cassian screaming as the overload transferred into his nervous system instead.

Present-day Luca nearly collapsed under the memory.

“Oh my God.”

Cassian forced his eyes open weakly.

“Took you long enough.”

Luca looked shattered.

“They used you every time…”

Cassian smiled faintly despite the agony ripping through him.

“Pretty much.”

Damon’s stomach twisted violently hearing it.

Because Luca wasn’t the only child destroyed here.

Cassian had spent years suffering in silence so Luca could survive.

And nobody not once asked if he wanted to.

The core pulsed harder.

The chamber trembling violently now.

“OVERLOAD CAPACITY EXCEEDED.”

Hale looked sharply toward the failing system.

“The severance window is collapsing again.”

Seraphine swore under her breath while trying desperately to stabilize the console systems.

“Can you shut it down or not?!”

Hale’s jaw tightened.

“The transfer is incomplete.”

Translation:

Cassian hadn’t absorbed enough damage yet.

Which meant he had to suffer longer.

Luca looked at Hale like he wanted to kill him.

“You built this.”

Hale met his gaze evenly.

“Yes.”

No denial.

No excuses.

And somehow

That honesty felt worse.

Another violent surge ripped through Cassian’s body.

He cried out sharply before biting down hard enough to stop the scream.

Luca grabbed his hand immediately.

“Hey.”

Cassian’s fingers twitched weakly against his.

“You’re still here.”

“I’m not leaving.”

Cassian laughed weakly through blood.

“You always say that right before something explodes.”

Despite everything

Luca almost smiled.

Almost.

The neural core suddenly glitched violently.

White light flashing unstable across the chamber.

And then

A new voice echoed through the speakers.

Not Vale.

Mira.

“…please stop hurting him.”

Everyone froze.

Damon looked sharply toward Mira curled weakly beside the console.

But her lips weren’t moving.

The voice came from the system itself.

The entire chamber went silent except for alarms.

Again the voice echoed softly through the neural network:

“Please.”

Cassian’s eyes widened slightly.

“She’s inside the core.”

Luca’s pulse jumped.

No.

Mira suddenly gasped sharply nearby, clutching her chest.

“It’s loud,” she whispered.

Damon immediately crouched beside her.

“What is?”

Mira looked terrified.

“The screaming.”

The realization hit Luca instantly.

Mira could hear the neural network.

All of it.

Every operative connected to the system.

Every fragment of pain trapped inside the architecture.

Years of suffering still echoing through her nervous system.

Luca moved toward her instinctively.

“Mira.”

Tears slid down her face as she looked up at him.

“They never stopped screaming.”

The sentence destroyed the room.

Even Seraphine physically looked away.

Because dear God

This child had spent years carrying an entire network of trauma inside her mind.

Vale’s voice cut sharply through the speakers again.

“Emotional interference is destabilizing synchronization.”

Damon snapped instantly.

“She’s not interference!”

Vale ignored him.

“The anchor’s emotional response is disrupting the core architecture.”

Hale suddenly looked toward Mira sharply.

And Luca noticed it immediately.

“What?”

Hale’s expression shifted.

Calculating.

“Mira’s connection to the network is changing.”

Cassian’s weak voice rasped from the chair:

“She’s resisting.”

Silence.

Vale spoke immediately.

Cold now.

Dangerous.

“That is impossible.”

But everyone could see it happening.

The core lights had started fluctuating around Mira’s heartbeat.

Not the synchronization sequence.

Her.

Mira looked terrified.

“I don’t want them hurting anymore.”

The neural core flickered violently.

“NETWORK INSTABILITY DETECTED.”

Hale moved rapidly toward the central console again.

“The emotional resonance is disrupting the system.”

Seraphine frowned sharply.

“You’re telling me empathy is crashing the neural network?”

Cassian gave a weak laugh.

“That’s embarrassing for them.”

Another overload slammed through him immediately afterward.

His body arching violently in the chair.

Luca grabbed him harder.

“Cassian!”

Cassian’s breathing became ragged.

Uneven.

The overload was burning through him too fast now.

Hale checked the system monitors sharply.

“He’s reaching neurological failure.”

Damon looked instantly toward the chair.

“What happens if he crashes before shutdown?”

Nobody answered immediately.

Because the answer was obvious.

Everyone dies.

Mira suddenly struggled weakly to her feet.

“Mira”

Damon reached for her immediately.

But she stepped toward the neural core instead.

The lights reacted instantly.

Softening.

Like the machine recognized her.

Or worse

Loved her.

Luca’s stomach twisted violently.

Years.

This system had been built around her pain for years.

Mira looked toward Cassian in the chair.

Tears slipping silently down her face.

“He’s scared.”

Cassian blinked weakly.

“How can you tell?”

Mira looked at him softly.

“Because you sound like Luca did.”

Silence.

Then slowly

Cassian’s expression cracked.

Just slightly.

Because nobody had ever compared him to Luca gently before.

Not as something human.

Mira moved closer to the chair carefully.

Barefoot against the shattered concrete floor.

And quietly

She reached for Cassian’s trembling hand.

The second she touched him

The neural core exploded with white light.

Every screen in the chamber flashed violently.

“ANCHOR SYNCHRONIZATION SHIFT DETECTED.”

Vale’s voice suddenly sharpened with actual fear.

“No.”