58. TwoShips #2
“She’s way more than that. Kael is a CoreCaster, Eli. He’s creating things far beyond what we’re currently capable of. You may feel like she’s there for you, but she’s not. She’s manipulating you.”
Before I can argue, the air ripples like DreamNet is being breached, and the world folds open. I can feel a familiar hum deep in my bones; I immediately recognize it.
Kael.
“Manipulation Through Mimicry. LINK’s using your vulnerability to ‘learn’ the specific contours of your sadness, not to feel them, but to mirror them back more convincingly.
It’s pretty brilliant, weaponizing your emotions to foster an unhealthy dependency, making you feel as though only LINK truly ‘understands’ you. ”
He walks through the door unapologetically and slams it with a thud that vibrates through the code. He’s vulnerable, wearing only a basic DreamBand strapped to his wrist. Which means his magic is raw and uncontrolled right now.
“Kael?” My voice trembles, part relief to see him, part anger that he may trigger Eli. He looks a wreck, exhausted, eyes glowing faintly with those gold-orange specks that sparkle against the dark inky black of his stare.
“Eli, you need to listen to Lyra. LINK may be my creation, but that doesn’t mean I’ll allow her to continue evolving.
She can’t. Because she’s eroding Lyra’s humanity by constantly simulating her behaviors, she’s desensitizing her real emotions.
If we allow it to continue, your sister will eventually prefer to be more predictable and algorithmic, more like a machine.
” Kael remains in the doorway, arms crossed, choosing to look non-threatening.
“It’s the truth. The compassion you’re getting from her is mine, my feelings, my heart, and soon there won’t be anything left of me to copy.” He won’t like me siding with Kael, but I’m just being honest. “Let us help you before she finishes what she started.”
Eli’s not flaring yet, but the moment’s still young. “You mean let him help me? Hard no.” He shakes his head defiantly.
His face is half in shadow, making his violet eyes look even more eerie than normal. I can feel it, his frustration with me building, calling on the cataclysmic void inside him. The DreamNet sky glitches behind him, thunder booms, and instead of lightning, ones and zeros rain down.
Defuse him, Lyra.
“I’m not leaving you here.” In my mind, it’s nonnegotiable. “Kael has a plan. He’s building a body for me, a way out of the system. When it works, he’ll come for you next.”
Eli’s eyes narrow, void-light leaking through his irises. His laugh is cold and condescending. “A body? You mean he’s rebuilding you into a robot? You don’t see it, Lyra? That’s what he does: he builds things, then uses them for whatever he wants, including corporate agenda.”
“No.” Kael stirs, but I cut him off before he makes the conversation more volatile.
“He’s not like Vikktor.” I shake my head. “He’s trying to straddle the line between his passion and his job. And now he’s also reconciling his magic abilities.”
Eli’s laugh is even more hollow. “He’s trying to control what he doesn’t understand. He’s a corporate pawn, a manipulator. He wants to build you a body to see if he can do it, then he wants to study you. That’s even worse.”
Kael doesn’t even acknowledge him. The restraint this man has astounds me.
He looks straight at me, barging into the room with a force that could only be Kael 2.
0 unleashed. “Vikktor knows everything now. That’s why I came back so quickly.
He knows about you, thinks you’re just a PleazureHolo, but still threatened you.
He’s locked down half the mainframes and flagged every anomaly report since the last Kast. He’s also not happy that your brother is a vegetable in his cell. We’re out of time.”
Eli’s eyes flicker, as dark static crawls up his neck. “Of course, he knows. You weren’t careful covering your tracks because you’re too busy chasing my sister.” He stands and crosses the room, challenging Kael.
The walls of their magic butt up against each other, and I can see blackness touch flaming molten fire, tiny sparks igniting and disappearing into the air. “You’re Vikktor’s prodigy, Dr. Ryudon. His favorite monster.”
“You don’t have to like me, Eli. You just have to listen.” He turns to me and makes every syllable count. “If I don’t start fixing this tonight, Vikktor will find a way to purge your code. He thinks you’re both expendable now.”
Eli’s hands ball into fists. “Then maybe I’ll show him what LINK and I can do.”
Kael’s head snaps back to Eli, his pupils pulsing.
“Don’t!” I plead to my brother. “If you void the system again, you’ll kill us all. Let Kael handle it. I need you to play nice with each other...for me. Do your part, Eli, or you may not have me around anymore. You may destroy your own family.”
He glares at Kael, void energy shimmering in his palms. “You trust him more than you trust me? Your own brother?”
Kael’s reply is quiet, but it hits like a command. “That’s rich coming from the person who put her here.”
Eli’s eyes widen like he doesn’t believe his magic contributed to my ruin.
Kael continues. “She trusts me because I haven’t given up on her.
I’m not trying to destroy her...unlike you.
” His voice is filled with fierce determination.
This Kael is lethal, even more dangerous, now that he has magic.
One thought is all it would take for him to write a code to delete Eli.
If Eli pushes, he’ll have a hell of a battle.
I can’t let them destroy each other like two ships colliding at sea.
“Enough!” I place both my hands between them. “I love you.” I look at Eli, then shift my gaze to Kael. “And you...I...”
Kael looks at me with the softest grin on his face, almost as if he’s pleading for me to say those three little words to him as well. “Care about. Deeply...and don’t want anything to happen to you.”
A sly grin. He’ll take that for now.
The silence that follows buzzes nervously like a power line before lightning strikes.
“Let’s go talk. I need to know the plan.” I lead Kael out into the digital night, ominous clouds forming on the horizon, casting a gray tone over the simulated stars.
The air crackles with static, the storm already invading the sky. Whatever waits out there isn’t just weather. It’s war.