41. Resilience #2
Ash spreads his arms wide, grinning. “Yeah, but I’m right. The tension in here could power the whole damn grid if we bottled it. Kaze, please, the soundcheck is over, Bro. It’s time for the headliner.”
I’m sweating from embarrassment. These two will be the death of me, especially in front of Jett. I give Ash a look so sharp it could slice steel. “Shut your mouth, Ash.” I clench my teeth. “This isn’t a joke.”
“Neither is your hard-on for a hologram,” Ash fires back with a wicked smile.
Lyra’s form flickers to life in front of us. Her full holographic detail fills in slowly, pixel by pixel. “See? Even your best friend thinks there’s something wrong with you.” She begins to walk the lab like she owns it.
For a heartbeat, the air is stale. I’ve never seen this Lyra before, and I really dislike it. I need to get her alone, make sure she’s functioning, not misfiring from corrupted code.
Jett slowly circles around her holo-image. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. In a way, he has.
He ignores all of us, locking his gaze on Lyra’s image. There’s something between curiosity and admiration hanging there. “So, she is real.” He touches her face, as if testing the image that stands before him. Lyra leans into it, proving she can feel his touch.
Someone is about to lose a fucking hand.
With unnerving calm, he speaks up. “She’s right, Kael. To her, this is more and more of a cell every day. You can’t control her like you do your data.” His eyes pulse once as he stares at her.
Okay, fine. One hand, and now I have to stab his eyes out.
“Not your concern, Novarre.”
Jett’s mouth curves. “Everything about her is my concern.”
Lyra crosses her arms, suspicious of his statement. “And you are?” She gives him a coy look like she already knows but wants him to engage.
Jett steps closer to her. I notice a ripple through the air around him like his presence is tugging on the energy she’s made of.
“Name’s Jett.” Then, with a tilt of his chin, he lifts her hand and kisses it gently. “But in the underground, they call me SoulReaver.”
He will pay for that. If it’s the last thing I ever do. No one touches what’s mine.
Her eyes widen. “You are THE SoulReaver? And you can just stroll into VikkCorp, their main lab, whenever you like and just say that?”
“That’s the point. They don’t see me. Not unless I want them to. That’s the gift of my magic, Lyra. I don’t just deal in souls. I can also erase myself from the record. Call it ‘bonus’ magic. StarFell wasn’t done with me, it had to chew me up and spit me out twice.”
I’m done. His dog-and-pony show won’t be enough to impress Lyra.
“Enough. You don’t parade your little revolution in my lab. You want anomalies? You got them. But she stays out of your games.”
“Funny. She doesn’t look like she belongs to you.” He gives her a wink and an edgy smile.
The air thickens, humming with tension. Ash chuckles nervously, breaking the silence. “Gods, this is better than one of my virtual reality shows. Next thing you know, somebody’s gonna start swinging. Hold please...I need to get snacks.”
But no one laughs. Least of all me.
Jett arches an eyebrow. “She’s not yours, Kael. She’s not mine either. She’s an anomaly. She’s power. You keep things like her. I set them free.”
“Free? I’ve seen your kind of freedom. It looks a lot like war dressed up in motivational speeches.” I step beside Lyra protectively.
“Maybe.” He steps back. “And your kind of order looks a lot like a prison. At least my people get a choice.”
Ash claps his hands together, cutting through the growing storm. “Bravo! Would you two just whip ’em out and measure already? Save us all the theatrics.”
Both Jett and I turn our glares on him.
“What?! I’m just saying, Lyra’s trapped in the system, Eli’s tearing holes in reality, Vikktor’s playing god, and the two of you are locked in a dick-measuring contest. Maybe channel that energy into, I don’t know, not getting us all killed?” Ash adds.
Ember snorts, quickly covering it with a cough.
I’d win by the way...the contest...
“He’s right. You’re too busy trying to stake claims while Vikktor tightens his noose around all of us.
” Jett steps closer, his presence electric, like he carries the buzz of the rebellion in his veins.
“You may have her in your system now, but the moment she realizes what you are, what you’ve done, she’ll choose. And it won’t be you.”
I refuse to let his words strike true. “Oh, and you think it will be you? Or are you hoping it will be you?” I wince, the thought sickening me. “You’re welcome in my lab as long as you’re useful, Novarre. But don’t mistake that for trust. And don’t mistake her for yours...ever!”
“Hello! I’m right here,” Lyra reminds us, “I can hear you. No need to talk about me like I can’t. I may be a mere woman among all you ‘powerful’ men, but I can make my own choices and speak for myself. Thank you very much.”
Of course she can, it’s what I admire most about her. Assertive. Resolute. Bold. I move back slowly. My eyes linger on her, and for the first time since she appeared in my system, doubt creeps in. Not about saving her, it’s never about that, but about keeping her.
“Lyra, my office, please?” I invite her with an open hand. She follows me in, and I shut the door. I lean against the top of my desk to ease the tension.
My hand twitches against the glass. “What’s the deal, Taiyō? Why all this attitude?” My voice cracks but remains honed. “I’m not Vikktor. I’m the one keeping you alive and trying to get you out.”
Lyra leans closer, her holo-form sparking faintly at the edges. “And I’m supposed to trust that? Trust you?”
The moment of silence between us feels hostile. I notice a tightening in my chest I’ve never experienced before: Betrayal?
Jett barges in like he owns the lab. The door creaks open, his voice cutting through the dead silence.
“She’s right not to trust so easily.” He isn’t smiling, but there’s something softer there. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have a duty to protect all anomalies, Kael.”
The fucking audacity.
Lyra blinks, startled, realizing that Jett has also locked her in his sights. Just not for the same reasons as me.
Jett’s voice lowers. “You’ve survived inside the machine this long, Lyra. That makes you more than an anomaly. It makes you a powerful symbol for U21s, therefore my responsibility.”
My shoulders stiffen, fingers clenched at the way he’s looking at her, not like data, not like code, but like a person he admires.
Lyra’s gaze flicks between us. “Funny. That’s the first thing anyone’s said that doesn’t make me feel like a test subject.”
My pulse pounds in my ears as I bury my fury. “Stay focused. This isn’t about symbols. It’s about survival. If Eli destabilizes again, none of this matters.”
But Jett’s faint smirk tells me he’s already made his point; he’s marking his territory.
And Lyra’s silence? It confirms one of my worst fears. She’s interested in what he has to say.