"Press Y," I had said.Alex’s finger hovers over the key. But he doesn't press it. Not yet."Wait," he says, pulling his hand back. "If we go into the neural dive with our biometrics out of sync, the feedback loop will kill us. Literally. It’ll stop our hearts."I blink, the adrenaline from the system crash still humming in my ears. "So we just... die?""Not if we calibrate first," Alex says, turning to the equipment bag. He pulls out two black chest straps with sensors. "We need to link our cardiovascular systems. If our hearts beat in time, the system can use the rhythm as a carrier wave. It protects the core functions.""Biometric sync," I realize. "Like the running app, but... for our lives.""Exactly."He hands me a strap. "Put this on. Under your ribs."I strip off my shirt. The air in the basement is freezing, but my skin is burning. I wet the sensors and strap the monitor around my chest, right over my heart. Alex does the same.We sit on the mattress, facing each other, knees
Last Updated : 2026-01-02 Read more