39. SoulReaver #2
Wait. My breath stalls. SoulReaver. U21s whisper that name through the system like a curse, like a ghost story.
Some are afraid to even speak the name. The codename is synonymous with DreamNet factions, graffiti-tagged alley walls, and burned into rebellion feeds.
Very few know his true face; even fewer know his real name.
Shit. I remember now. Dark rebirth. A soul returned to drag others with him.
For the U21 rebellion, SoulReaver isn’t just a man, he’s a legend.
The one who “steals souls back” from the Corporation, rescuing anomalies and vanishing them into safehouses.
A healer of magic. Right now, thanks to Eli, he must be working overtime.
So, he does have a name. The myth is real, and he’s right here meeting with Kael.
“Kael.” His greeting is flat. “You sneaky little bastard. You kept all this from me.” His voice is like a sharp blade wrapped in soft velvet. “I at least thought I’d get a heads-up text.” He scans the corners of the lab, making sure the cameras aren’t listening.
Ash shifts nervously, his mouth crooked, caught between a smile and an “oh shit” moment. “Dude, thought you were running the undernet. Didn’t expect you topside.”
Jett ignores his attempt at deflection. His gaze locks on Kael. “One of mine voided half the city, and you thought it wise not to tell me?”
Kael’s face is stone. “Yeah, well he may not be yours. He’s different...dangerous.”
Jett’s laugh was devoid of humor, echoing throughout the lab.
“Dangerous? You sound like Vikktor.” His eyes flick to Ember, then back to Kael.
“You’ve studied anomalies long enough to know we don’t break the same way twice.
If Eli tore your precious grid, it means he’s evolving. And that makes him invaluable.”
I lean into the window of code, heart hammering. He knows about my brother.
Kael stiffens. “Invaluable? He nearly erased all of us, including your own people.”
Jett moves suddenly. “May I?” It’s a statement, not a question. He steps in front of Kael to the blinking anomaly that just popped on screen. He hovers his hand over it and a maroon light follows the inked vein up his arm.
“A younger U21 boy who flatlined during Eli’s surge. It’s a weak blip, one point five, I don’t think he’s with us anymore.” Kael moves back to claim his space.
Jett says nothing, just closes his eyes, then reopens them slowly. He brushes his palm over the blinking light. For a moment nothing happens. Then Jett’s eyes flare black-red, a glow erupts from every piece of ink covering his body, and the anomaly springs back, brighter, faster.
Ember startles, eyes wide. Ash swears softly under his breath. “Damn. A six now.” He calls out the surge on the scale.
My stomach drops. That power. It’s something older, darker. Soul-reaping and soul-giving.
Jett stands to full height, just slightly above Kael. They lock eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Invaluable. Don’t tell me you’d rather see them erased than reborn.”
The lab’s air turns heavy, tension coiling between the three men. Kael says nothing.
“Kael say something,” I whisper. My nails dig into my palms. Jett’s words are exactly what Eli said. Kael is a destroyer, a cage-builder. His silence confirms what I already know.
Is he saving us or using us?
Jett moves on, his gaze still on Kael. “You should have told me sooner Eli was one of us. My people deserve to know when one of ours tears a hole in the sky.” His smirk is razor-thin as he scans the room.
“Your anomaly problem just handed us a gift. Thousands of U21s yanked out of DreamNet, stripped bare. You think they’ll forgive that?
They’ll rise, and when they do, I’ll be there to show them where to aim their fire. ”
Ember’s gaze flickers. She’s uneasy. “You want a revolution, not a rescue.”
“I want both.” Jett leans in closer to her, inches away from her cheek. His words carry the harsh rhythm of someone used to turning speeches into battle cries.
Ash bristles, ready to strike like a cobra. Interesting.
“Your anomaly, Eli, proved DreamNet isn’t untouchable. Vikktor isn’t untouchable. The Corporation has its weaknesses. That’s the spark. My people are ready to ignite this city if it means waking the rest of you.”
Kael’s eyes are hard as glass. “We’re not here to burn everything down, especially not my system, my creation. We’re here to extract Eli before Vikktor notices.”
Jett laughs dismissively. “You talk like you’re still in control of this city. But I’ve seen what your ‘extractions’ do, Kael. You hunt anomalies, study them, then turn them over to the CIC like they’re nothing but data scraps. Don’t pretend you’re different from Vikktor.”
The air between them stiffens, Kael’s hand twitches near the edge of the table. If he had a sword nearby, Jett would be sliced in half. My chest clenches. Jett’s words only confirm what I’d always feared, that Kael is just another corporate pawn.
He steps back from the table, his dark suit coat shifting like a shadow. His eyes pin Kael in place, sharp and unforgiving.
“You think distance absolves you.” Jett’s voice is stern. “Your compliance still means blood on your hands. Every anomaly you ‘contain,’ you hand them over like lambs to Vosse’s slaughter.”
A lethal stare, but Kael doesn’t take the bait. His silence is his own defiance, but it leaves the air even thicker between them.
“Careful,” Ash cuts in. “If you’re in this room, you’re here to help, not divide us further.” A friendly warning. He’s protecting Kael.
Jett tilts his head, again with a smirk. “Fracture’s already here, Ash. I’m just making sure we see the fault lines.”
On the other side of the screen, my heart feels like an iron weight.
I replay Eli’s echo in the void, his hatred for Kael, his fury with the corporations.
It sears into my veins. And now Jett, this beautiful rebel with eyes like a dark storm, is saying the same things.
A terrifying thought crosses my tangled mind:
All roads lead to deception. Kael promised to save Eli...but what if he’s the last person Eli or I should trust?
Another cold truth slides down my spine: He doesn’t have the time nor the resources to save both of us. Not Eli and me. I can’t shake the feeling that if he chooses wrong, one of us won’t survive.
A rescue or a rebirth. One body, one chance. He’ll have to choose.