74. Jonah
Jonah
“ I f I die, so does she.”
The room goes dead silent.
Elizabeth makes a broken sound behind us.
Not quite a sob.
Not quite a scream.
Just hopelessness.
And I swear to God—
I have never wanted to kill another human being this badly in my entire life.
Kade sees it in my face.
Smiles anyway.
Sienna stares at the monitor in horror.
“No… no, you linked her into the biometric chain?”
“She was always part of the system.”
“You MONSTER!”
Kade’s gaze shifts toward her again.
Calm.
Obsessed.
“You still think this is cruelty,” he says softly. “It’s preservation.”
Lance visibly gags.
“Yeah, okay, now I officially vote we feed this guy into a wood chipper.”
Vale keeps working furiously at the terminal.
Code races across the screens.
His hands are shaking now.
Fear.
Real fear.
“There has to be a severance protocol,” Sienna whispers, moving beside him. “There has to be.”
“There isn’t.”
“There HAS to be!”
Kade watches her unravel carefully.
Enjoying it.
That’s what finally makes me understand him completely.
This isn’t about survival anymore.
Not really.
It’s about watching her suffer.
I step closer to him slowly.
“Kade.”
He looks at me.
“You lose either way.”
Something flickers in his eyes.
Interesting.
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
The countdown flashes again.
00:02:41
Cal checks the corridor sharply.
“We are about to have a serious hostile problem!”
Movement echoes outside.
A lot of movement.
Boots.
Shouting.
Automatic weapons being repositioned.
They’re preparing to breach.
Perfect timing.
Sienna suddenly freezes beside the terminal.
Her breathing catches sharply.
“What?” I ask immediately.
She doesn’t answer right away.
Just stares at the screen.
Then—
Very slowly—
She looks toward Elizabeth.
Oh no.
“What?” Lance demands.
Sienna swallows hard.
“The tether doesn’t just monitor vitals.”
My stomach tightens.
“What else?”
Her eyes shine with horror.
“It monitors emotional stress responses.”
Nobody speaks.
Because none of us understand yet.
Then she whispers—
“Kade programmed Elizabeth’s fear into the system.”
Cold crashes through the room.
Elizabeth starts crying harder immediately.
“No… no…”
Sienna turns toward her fast.
“Elizabeth, listen to me.”
“I can’t do this—”
“Yes, you can.”
“I’m scared—”
“I know.” Sienna grabs her hands gently. “But you have to stay calm.”
Lance stares at the monitor.
“You’re telling me this psycho built a bomb powered by panic?”
“Yes.”
Kade actually looks proud.
“Trauma creates exceptionally predictable biometric patterns.”
Cal mutters something deeply concerning under his breath.
Sienna kneels in front of Elizabeth now.
Ignoring everything else.
The countdown.
The gunfire.
Kade.
All of it.
Just focusing on her.
“Look at me,” Sienna says softly.
Elizabeth’s breathing shakes violently.
“I can’t—”
“Yes, you can.” Sienna squeezes her hands tighter. “Stay with my voice.”
Another explosion rocks the corridor outside.
Dust rains from the ceiling.
Elizabeth flinches hard.
The timer instantly drops.
00:02:09
“Oh COME ON!” Lance yells.
Kade smiles faintly.
“The system adapts beautifully under pressure.”
I think Lance might actually have an aneurysm.
Sienna keeps her eyes locked on Elizabeth.
“You are safe.”
“I’m not—”
“You are with me.”
Elizabeth’s breathing stutters.
Sienna lowers her voice further.
Gentler.
Warmer.
“Remember the stars?”
Elizabeth blinks.
Confused.
“What?”
“The observatory.”
Something changes in Elizabeth’s expression.
Tiny.
But real.
“I used to sneak you hot chocolate after lights out,” Sienna whispers softly. “You hated the marshmallows.”
A tiny laugh breaks through Elizabeth’s tears.
God.
The countdown slows slightly.
00:01:58
Everybody notices.
Cal blinks at the monitor.
“Wait…”
Sienna catches it instantly too.
Hope flickers across her face.
“The emotional feedback loop,” she whispers.
Vale looks up sharply.
“You’re stabilizing the tether.”
Kade’s smile finally fades.
Just a little.
Good.
Very, very good.
Because for the first time since this nightmare started—
His perfect system is no longer behaving the way he expected.