Chapter 90

Chapter 90

He wanted to survive now too.

The realization hit Cassian like another overload wave.

Only this pain felt different.

Sharper somehow.

More human.

Because dying had always seemed easier.

Simpler.

No expectations.

No attachment.

No terrifying possibility of building a future and losing it later.

But now

Now Luca looked at him like his existence mattered.

Mira cried when he hurt.

Damon argued with him like he planned to keep him around.

Even the archived children stayed close beside him.

And suddenly

Cassian wanted something he never allowed himself before.

More time.

The synchronization chair sparked violently again.

Electricity tearing across his skin in brutal white flashes.

He gasped sharply through clenched teeth.

SECONDARY ANCHOR FAILURE: 0.7%

Seraphine looked toward the monitors.

“That number feels disrespectful.”

Hale’s attention remained fixed on the neural core.

“The transfer sequence is waiting.”

Cassian weakly lifted his head.

“Fantastic.”

A rough breath.

“I always wanted emotional vulnerability to become medically necessary.”

Despite the panic suffocating him

Damon snorted softly.

“You’re handling this weirdly well.”

“I’m dissociating professionally.”

The chamber trembled again.

Hard enough this time that part of the floor near the far wall collapsed inward into darkness.

Smoke and heat poured deeper into the room.

“CORE MELTDOWN IN FIVE SECONDS.”

Seraphine blinked slowly.

“That countdown is stressing me out.”

Mira looked toward the neural core desperately.

“They’re waiting.”

The projections surrounding the chamber had grown brighter now.

More stable.

Children standing peacefully in the white light.

Watching the center of the room.

Watching Cassian.

Watching Luca.

Waiting for them to choose.

Luca stepped closer to the synchronization chair slowly.

Cassian looked at him weakly.

And for the first time

He looked openly afraid.

Not hiding it anymore.

Luca saw it instantly.

“Hey.”

Cassian swallowed hard.

“What if it hurts?”

The honesty nearly destroyed the room.

Because Cassian never asked questions like that.

Never admitted fear first.

Luca moved immediately.

Carefully placing both hands against Cassian’s face despite the unstable electricity snapping dangerously around them.

“It probably will.”

Cassian let out one breathless laugh.

“Wow.”

A painful inhale.

“Terrible reassurance.”

“But you won’t go through it alone.”

Silence.

The sentence settled somewhere deep inside Cassian’s chest.

Somewhere old and damaged and starving.

Because all his life

Pain was solitary.

You endured it quietly.

You survived it alone.

You disappeared if you couldn’t.

But Luca

Luca kept refusing that reality.

The neural core pulsed softly.

Warmly.

Mira smiled faintly through tears.

“They hear you.”

Vale’s voice exploded through the speakers instantly.

“STOP THIS.”

No one listened anymore.

Vale sounded furious now.

Panicked beneath the anger.

“You are allowing emotional instability to compromise evolution.”

Damon looked upward coldly.

“No.”

A pause.

“We’re choosing humanity over control.”

The chamber went still.

Because that was the true difference between them.

Vale believed emotions weakened progress.

But standing inside this collapsing graveyard of suffering

Everyone else finally understood something she never would.

Emotion was the only reason any of them survived at all.

Hale looked toward the neural core silently.

Watching the archived children flicker in soft white light.

Then quietly

Almost painfully

He admitted:

“She believed attachment made people vulnerable.”

Luca looked toward him sharply.

“And what do you believe now?”

Hale hesitated.

A long pause.

Then softly answered:

“I believe isolation made monsters of us.”

Silence swallowed the chamber whole.

Because that was the closest thing to regret any of them had ever heard from him.

Cassian weakly glanced toward Hale.

“Took you long enough.”

Hale accepted the insult without argument.

Maybe because he deserved worse.

The synchronization chair suddenly screamed with overloaded static.

Cassian cried out sharply as the restraints around his wrists finally snapped completely apart.

SECONDARY ANCHOR COLLAPSE IMMINENT.

Hale looked toward Luca immediately.

“Now.”

The neural core exploded with white light.

The archived projections surrounding the room stepping forward all at once.

Not threatening.

Not violent.

Reaching.

Mira grabbed Damon’s hand tightly.

Terrified but steady.

Luca looked directly at Cassian.

And softly

Like a promise

He said:

“Stay with me.”

Cassian’s breathing shook unevenly.

“You make surviving sound terrifying.”

Luca almost smiled through tears.

“Good.”

The neural core pulsed once.

Deep.

Heavy.

Then suddenly

Every archived child in the chamber spoke together.

Not loudly.

Not violently.

Softly.

“Thank you.”

The room shattered emotionally.

Seraphine physically covered her mouth.

Damon looked stunned.

Mira burst into tears instantly.

Even Hale froze completely.

Because the voices sounded real.

Human.

Children finally being heard.

Cassian stared at the projections around him with trembling eyes.

“…okay,” he whispered shakily.

“That’s worse.”

Luca laughed through tears.

Actually laughed.

And the neural core responded instantly.

TRANSFER SEQUENCE ACCEPTED.

White light erupted through the chamber.

Warm.

Blinding.

Endless.

The projections surrounding the room slowly began dissolving into glowing particles.

Not screaming.

Not afraid.

Peaceful.

One by one

The children smiled.

And disappeared.