MY CRUEL PROTECTOR
The sirens began to wail—a high-pitched, mourning sound that echoed through the entire Kremlin.
I opened the heavy, lead-lined door to Nevan’s cage.
The air inside was like a physical weight, thick with the smell of copper and decay. The moment I stepped across the threshold, I felt the Icarus Strain hit me. It was like a million hot needles piercing my skin, searching for the violet markers of my DNA. My vision went red. My lungs seized.
System Breach. Pathogen detected in the Sovereign-Core, the voice signaled, sounding like it was drowning. Neural-Decompiling initiated. Total system failure in 60 seconds.