Chapter 64 - Ava
Ava
Everything is slipping.
Edges softening.
Sound stretching.
But I lock onto the console.
On the code.
On the structure I know too well.
Because it’s built from me.
“They mapped it to my patterns,” I say, forcing the words out.
“They keyed it to you,” Jonah says in my ear.
“Exactly.”
My hands hit the controls.
They shake.
I don’t stop.
Ethan’s arm braces around me, solid at my side, holding me upright.
“You’re doing good,” he murmurs.
His voice cuts through the haze.
Anchors me.
I hold onto it.
“I need to break the command chain…”
“Hurry,” Aaron says. “We’ve got movement out here.”
Of course we do.
I start typing.
The code flows—half memory, half instinct.
Lines falling into place—
then resisting.
The system pushes back.
Hard.
Access denied.
Locked out.
“No…”
My vision blurs.
Darkness creeping in at the edges.
“Come on…”
“Ava—stay with me.”
Ethan’s voice again.
Closer.
Stronger.
I grip the console tighter.
“I’m not done…”
I refuse.
Not now.
Not like this.
Not when he’s right here.
I push deeper.
Override sequence—
Manual bypass—
Force entry—
The system fractures—
Then—
Override accepted.
A sharp pulse surges through the console.
The node shifts.
Control breaks.
And everything—
goes dark.