Chapter 56 Ava
Ava
Ishould feel worse.
The truth sitting in front of me—
a clock I can’t see—
time slipping somewhere I can’t control.
But instead—
I feel… steadier.
Because of him.
Because he didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t pause.
Didn’t even consider the idea of losing me.
That kind of certainty—
it should scare me.
Instead—
I hold onto it.
Jonah watches me from across the table, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
“You okay?”
I nod.
“Yeah.”
He doesn’t buy it.
Leans back slightly, studying me.
“Because from where I’m sitting, you just found out you’ve got a built-in shutdown timer.”
I wince.
“Wow. You really know how to deliver good news.”
He shrugs.
“I’ve never been the emotional support guy.”
“No kidding.”
A small smile slips through anyway.
It feels… strange.
Normal.
Then I turn back to the screens.
Focus locking in.
Pain fading into the background.
“We need everything on Hayes’s system,” I say. “All of it.”
Jonah’s fingers start moving instantly.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That we don’t destroy it?”
He glances up.
“Yeah.”
I nod.
Slow.
Certain.
“We don’t break it.”
My eyes lock onto the code running across the screen.
Patterns.
Architecture.
Pieces I recognize—
pieces I helped build.
“We take control of it.”
Because if we don’t—
I won’t just lose the system.
I’ll lose myself with it.