MasukBrandon’s POV“Us?” Cameron repeated, and the way he said the word made it sound unfamiliar, like it was something he had never understood before even though I knew it used to define everything between us.“Yes, us,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady even though my chest felt tight with fear, because I knew that if I allowed myself to fall apart now then there would be nothing left holding him here with me.“That term implies a connection,” he said slowly, his tone still controlled but no longer immediate, as though he was actually thinking about what I had said instead of dismissing it without consideration. “I do not currently possess evidence of such a connection.”“That is because someone took it from you,” I replied quickly, refusing to let the moment slip away. “It is not because it never existed.”“That is a possibility,” he said, and the fact that he even acknowledged that made something in me lift slightly, because a possibility meant doubt, and doubt meant he was not
Brandon’s POV“Say it again,” Cameron said, his voice unsteady in a way I had never heard before, like every word was slipping through something he could not fully control.“I love you,” I said immediately, without hesitation, without thinking, because there was nothing to think about anymore except keeping him here.“Again,” he said.“I love you,” I repeated, louder this time, firmer, like I could force it to stay inside him if I said it enough times.Wilson let out a quiet breath behind me. “Okay, this is intense, but I support it, please continue,” he said nervously.“Again,” Cameron said.“I love you,” I said, my voice starting to shake now.“I am trying to hold onto it,” he said, his words slower, strained, like something was pulling them away even as he spoke them.“Then don’t let it go,” I said quickly. “Just focus on me, focus on my voice.”“I am,” he said, but he winced slightly, his expression tightening. “But it is… fading.”“No, no, no,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not
Cameron’s POVSomething was wrong.Not in the way it had been before, when everything inside me was too controlled, too precise, too… empty.This was different.This felt unstable.“Something is coming,” I said again, my voice quieter now, but more certain.Brandon didn’t let go of my hand.“Okay,” he said, his tone steady even though I could feel the tension in his grip, “then we face it together.”“No,” I replied immediately.He frowned.“No?” he repeated. “What do you mean no?”I shook my head slightly, trying to process what I was feeling, what I was remembering, what was trying to surface all at once.“This is not external,” I said. “It is internal.”Wilson made a small, panicked sound behind us.“I do not like internal problems,” he said. “External problems can be avoided. Internal problems sound like breakdowns.”Irene stepped closer.“What kind of internal?” she asked. “Memory? Programming? Physical response?”“Yes,” I said.“That is not helpful,” she replied.“I am aware,” I
Brandon’s POVFor a moment, nobody moved.Not me.Not Cameron.Not even the wind felt real anymore.Everything was just… suspended.“You saw that, right?” Wilson whispered from behind me. “Please tell me I did not imagine that because I am emotionally invested now.”“I saw it,” Irene said quietly. “He’s breaking through.”I did not respond.Because I was too focused on Cameron.On his hand.On the way it had moved toward me and then stopped, like something inside him was fighting itself.“Don’t pull away,” I said softly.“I am not pulling away,” Cameron replied, but his voice still had that controlled edge, like he was trying to hold onto something slipping.“You almost did,” I said.“That was conflict,” he said.“Good,” I replied. “Then keep fighting it.”Kade’s voice came again, calm but different now.“Emotional override is increasing,” he said. “This is not supposed to happen at this rate.”I turned my head slightly.“Then maybe your system isn’t as perfect as you think,” I said.
Cameron’s POVThe moment I took the step forward, everything inside me shifted again, like something deep in the system had briefly misfired.Not broken.Not gone.Just… interrupted.“You moved,” Brandon said immediately, his voice sharp with disbelief and hope at the same time.“I did not complete the previous instruction set,” I replied.Wilson let out a loud breath.“I don’t know why that sounds more concerning than reassuring,” he said. “But it does.”Kade’s voice came from behind Brandon, calm as always.“The failsafe is destabilizing,” he said.Brandon turned slightly, not taking his eyes off me.“Then fix it,” he said.“I cannot,” Kade replied.Brandon scoffed.“You keep saying that like it’s helpful,” he said. “It’s not.”“It is factual,” Kade answered.Brandon looked back at me.“Cameron,” he said again, slower this time, “talk to me.”I processed the request.Language response: stable.Output: clear.“I am talking to you,” I said.“No,” he replied immediately. “You’re answer
Brandon’s POV“Failsafe?”The word did not sit right in my chest. It felt wrong the second it left Kade’s mouth, like something sharp pressed against my ribs from the inside.“What failsafe?” I repeated, louder this time.Kade did not look at me.He was still watching Cameron.Always Cameron.“You don’t remember that part yet,” he said calmly.I stepped in front of Cameron again without thinking, my hand tightening around his wrist.“Then you’re going to explain it,” I said, my voice steady even though everything inside me was not.Kade tilted his head slightly.“It’s not my job to explain,” he said. “It’s my job to observe.”“That’s not happening,” I snapped. “You don’t get to drop something like that and then act mysterious about it.”Wilson nodded aggressively.“Yes, exactly. This is not a movie. You cannot just say ‘failsafe’ and then refuse to elaborate. That is extremely unfair.”Irene shot him a look.“Now is not the time,” she said.“It is absolutely the time,” he argued. “We
Brandon’s POVThe external inquiry request went live at 8:03 a.m.Cameron did not hesitate when he pressed send. He had drafted the formal petition the night before with the kind of precision that turns emotion into structure. It was addressed to the university’s accreditation body, the academic et
Cameron’s POVDean Halvorsen did not hurry as he crossed the quad, and that detail unsettled me more than if he had rushed toward us in visible anger, because controlled movement in a public crisis signals calculation rather than panic. The livestream was still running in Brandon’s hand, and the sm
Brandon’s POVI have never liked waiting, especially not the kind of waiting where you know something is moving against you but you cannot see the shape of it yet, because that kind of silence feels artificial and heavy and almost staged, like the calm right before a building alarm goes off and ev
Cameron’s POVThe words real stakes did not leave my head all night.They replayed over and over like a warning siren just low enough to ignore but loud enough to keep you from resting, and by morning I felt like I had slept inside anxiety instead of a bed.Brandon, on the other hand, looked infuri







