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Chapter Nine – “The Guardian’s Lie”

작가: Ella Mahmud
last update 최신 업데이트: 2025-11-05 04:11:37

Liana’s POV

The world feels quieter after the storm — too quiet. The rain has stopped, but everything still drips, like the sky hasn’t completely finished crying.

I sit on my dorm bed, staring at the file spread across the sheets. The ink is smeared in some places where the rain touched it, but the words still scream loud and clear.

Project Genesis.

Subject: Liana Voss.

Assigned Guardian: Axel Reed.

Every time I read it, I feel my stomach twist. Guardian. It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel — except this is my life, my name, my truth.

My phone buzzes on the nightstand. Unknown number.

For a second, I almost ignore it, but something tells me to answer.

“Hello?”

Static. Then a voice, low and familiar. “Liana?”

I freeze. “Axel?”

The static grows louder. “Don’t—trust—anyone—”

And then the line goes dead.

I stare at the screen, my heart hammering. The call came from a blocked number, but it was him. I know it was him.

I jump to my feet, grab my jacket, and shove the file into
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  • Timing The Rebel    Chapter Twenty-Two – Reboot Complete

    Liana’s POVThe sky tears like paper.A crack of white light splits the clouds, stretching across the horizon until the whole world seems to pulse with a blinding glow. The wind whips at my hair, stinging my cheeks, but I can’t look away.Because the voice — that cold, synthetic voice — echoes again, vibrating through my bones:> “Initialization successful.”Beside me, Axel stiffens. The cube in his hand glows red-hot, pulsing like it’s syncing with something in the air.“Axel,” I whisper, gripping his arm. “We need to move—”But he doesn’t turn. He’s staring straight ahead, where the ruins of the Genesis Core begin to rise, debris lifting off the ground as if gravity is being rewritten.The light condenses into a column, swirling, shaping, shifting.And then I see her.A silhouette.No — a figure.No — a projection wearing my face.My breath snags in my throat.Her eyes open in the light — the same shape as mine, but glowing sharp-white, cold and merciless.“Liana,” Axel murmurs, hor

  • Timing The Rebel    Chapter Twenty-One – Resurgence

    Liana’s POVThe air in the observatory feels different tonight.It’s been weeks since the storm ended — since the light swallowed everything, since I opened my eyes and saw Axel’s tear-streaked face. The world outside has started to heal; the air is lighter, the power grids hum again, and the night sky glows with unfamiliar clarity.But sometimes, when the wind blows through the cracks in the dome, I still hear the echo of a voice that isn’t mine.> You can’t erase what’s written in code.I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my palms against my temples until the sound fades.“Liana?” Axel’s voice pulls me back. He’s leaning against the doorframe, a soft light in his hand — a lantern made from broken circuitry. His hair’s a mess, his shirt rolled to his elbows, the tired kind of handsome that only people who’ve fought too hard can carry.“You okay?”I nod, though I’m not sure it’s true. “Just… thinking.”He crosses the room and places the lantern on the table beside the cracked telescope.

  • Timing The Rebel    Chapter Twenty – The Last Sequence

    Liana’s POVThe night tastes like electricity.The storm above the ruins paints everything in flashes — silver, white, blue — like the world itself is glitching.Axel and I run through the rain-soaked streets, breathless, half-blind, the hum of the machines echoing behind us. Every thunderclap sounds like the city’s dying heartbeat.We don’t stop until we reach the old observatory on the outskirts — one of the few places untouched by Genesis’s reach. The doors groan open, revealing the hollow skeleton of the dome and shattered telescopes.Axel collapses beside the console, drenched and shivering.“We can’t keep running forever,” he says. “It’s tracking you.”“I know.” My voice shakes, though I try to steady it. “Because it is me.”That truth burns through me, heavier than fear. I can still feel her — the reflection from the terminal — inside my thoughts. Watching. Waiting.“She’s connected to my neural code. As long as I exist, she does too.”Axel looks at me, his eyes dark with somet

  • Timing The Rebel    Chapter Nineteen – Awakening

    Liana’s POVThe first breath burns.Air floods into my lungs like fire and ice all at once. My body feels heavy, unfamiliar — as if it’s learning how to exist again.A voice breaks through the ringing in my ears.“Liana… stay still. You’re safe.”Safe. That word doesn’t fit the world anymore. But it’s Axel saying it, and for a moment, that’s enough.The glass above me slides open with a hiss. Cold air rushes in. His hands are the first thing I feel — rough, trembling, grounding me.He helps me sit up slowly, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders. The lab around us is unrecognizable — half-ruined, filled with broken lights and dripping pipes.“How long… was I out?” I manage to whisper.“I don’t know,” he says quietly. “The system doesn’t have a clock anymore. Maybe hours. Maybe days.”I look at him — his face smeared with ash, eyes red from exhaustion. “You didn’t leave.”“Couldn’t,” he says. “Didn’t want to.”Something tightens in my chest. I should be angry. I should demand answers.

  • Timing The Rebel    Chapter Eighteen – After the Light

    Axel’s POVSilence.That’s the first thing I remember after the light — not pain, not fear — just silence. A kind that feels heavy, like the world is holding its breath.When I open my eyes, everything is gray. Smoke curls through what’s left of the Genesis lab, twisting like ghosts around broken steel beams. The floor beneath me is cracked, soaked in a thin layer of dust and ash.I try to move, but my body protests. Every muscle feels bruised, my ribs ache, and blood trickles down my temple. I cough, forcing air into my lungs.“Liana…”Her name slips out before I even think. It sounds wrong in the emptiness — too fragile for a place that’s forgotten how to echo.I drag myself up, my hands scraping against the cold floor. My ears are ringing, but beneath it, I hear something faint — a slow pulse of machinery still alive, stubbornly refusing to die. The core hasn’t fully shut down.And she’s nowhere to be seen.Panic claws at my throat. I stumble through the debris, pushing aside colla

  • Timing The Rebel    Chapter Seventeen – The Truth Within

    Liana’s POVThe door shudders behind us, metal groaning under the force of impact. Sparks rain from the hinges as Axel wedges a steel bar through the handle.We’re trapped. Again.My chest burns from running, but it’s nothing compared to the ache clawing at my heart. His words — or rather, Arden’s words — echo through me like poison.> “He didn’t just save you. He activated you.”I turn to Axel. His face is ghost-white under the flickering red light. He looks older, heavier — like the weight of every lie he’s ever told is pressing down at once.“Tell me it’s not true,” I whisper.He doesn’t answer.The silence is worse than any confession could be.“I trusted you,” I say, my voice shaking now. “You were all I had, Axel. You— you told me I was human.”“You are,” he says roughly, stepping forward. “You’re more human than any of them.”“Don’t,” I snap, backing away. “Don’t say that like it makes this better.”His jaw tightens. “Liana, I never wanted you to know this way.”“But you wanted

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