63. BrainStorm
BrainStorm
Playlist: Frozen (Tik Tok Remix) - Trap Remix Guys
Lyra
I’ve spent most of the morning being an obedient little anomaly for Kael, putting in the work, homing in on the technique of tampering my power so it can meld with his.
I only stopped to pop into DreamNet to make sure Eli was okay, but today, he wasn’t there.
The worry is nagging. He’s always there, self-soothing, dealing with his captivity.
I remind myself that we will rescue him, whether he likes it or not.
I emerge from the cocoon of Kael’s office to the center of the lab. The whole room vibrates with nervous tension, like pulling back a rubber band. Will it snap or launch?
Kael and Jett sit around the center console swiping through blueprints and coded plans.
I hear Jett’s deep, velvety voice. “The SoulReaver power isn’t really built for this, Kael.
You’re asking me to do something I’ve never done: harvest and restore a soul in one session.
That’s not just dangerous, it’s...” He notices me and stops mid-sentence, looking back down at the plans.
“Sorry to interrupt.” I begin to join them at the console.
Kael comes over and grabs my hand, just like he always does. He’s trying to be a gentleman, always coming to my rescue, but it just stirs the notion inside me that it’s not needed. Women don’t always want the hero; sometimes we need the villain to join us in burning it all down.
“Taiyō, how are you feeling? You’re probably pretty drained from being in holo-form. Why don’t you join us through the window?” He kisses my forehead lightly.
“I’m okay for now. I’m not that fragile, just worried.” I give him my best attempt at a calming glance and a smile. “I can’t find Eli. He’s not in DreamNet, and I’m not really feeling his presence in the grid.”
Kael glances over to a monitor in the corner. “His vitals are right there. They look normal.” He reassures me. “Nothing out of the ordinary. You know I’d tell you if something wasn’t quite right.”
Oh, Kael, always the protector. He doesn’t even like my brother. He doesn’t have to say it out loud. Eli is the one person that could ruin everything Kael has built, yet here he is, monitoring him daily, just to calm my anxious heart.
“Jett and I are just going over a few loose ends, brainstorming.” He gives him a look like he’s telling him to fall in line.
Jett clears his throat. “I was just saying that I’ve never really used my magic in this way before.” His tone for once is gentle. “But I know I can do it. The only loose end is LINK.”
I pull my hand back from Kael. “Loose end? You mean psychotic, deranged, unhinged, I could go on. He’s right. What if LINK fights back?”
They both look at each other with disdain, one daring the other to answer the question. “She will fight back. I know that for a fact.” Kael rises to the occasion. The way he answers my question is brutally honest, and I’m not quite sure I want to hear it out loud.
I feel my magic pulse in my eyes, reflecting just how terrified I am of moving forward with this. “And if the system rejects me? If she tries to keep me inside?”
“Then she’ll reject me too,” Kael answers. “Which technically, since I’m her creator, she can’t really do. She has to obey me as the controller.”
Jett shakes his head as if all this is giving him a headache.
“Good or bad, our magic abilities are combined now. I don’t know exactly why or how yet, but I’m working on that too.
CoreCaster and EchoWeaver, add in SoulReaving, and that’s a pretty powerful trifecta.
” He places each inked hand on the sides of my face.
“Of course, right now, she’s probably listening to us, already rewriting programs to keep you inside, but I’ve got a solution for that too. ” A failed attempt at a joke.
I shake my head, forcing his hands to fall. “Thanks, that’s not comfort. That’s a countdown.”
“Then I’ll rewrite the clock.” He doesn’t miss a beat.
I say nothing, his confidence clearly not being shared by me. Jett breaks in to alleviate the tension. “You said Eclipse Night, excluding the time at the gala, that would give us twelve hours to pull this off. How long do you really need?”
“Six to eight.” KaeI looks over at him. “Six hours to stabilize her signal, transfer it into the neural construct, and fuse it with your power field in the vessel. After that, two hours to maybe upload the neural memory strings and personality profiles.”
“And then I just wake up, and I’m myself again? Like I just took a long nap?” I ask, hoping for one shred of motivation to carry me through this.
He nods, though it feels more like a silent prayer than science. “If this works, you’ll wake up in the cybernetic frame. Real skin. Real nerves. Real breath. A body Vikktor meant for his soldiers, now used to hold your beautiful soul.” He grins.
I force a laugh to bubble to the surface. It barely makes a sound. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t we? You really don’t know how to make this less complicated, do you?”
“No,” he admits. “But I can promise you this: When I say I’ll get you out, I don’t mean like downloading your data. I mean you. The woman who fought me, hated me, hell, maybe even saved me. The woman who made me believe I could be more than a tool built by another man.”
I look at him—study him. I’m not sure I want to be the one who changed him. But I do know I want to memorize every flicker of light that’s glowing in his eyes. I reach out, my fingers brushing the line of his jaw. “You’re staring.”
His smile widens. “So are you.” We stay put, lost in each other’s eyes, because right now I need the rest of the world to fade away.
Jett clears his throat nervously. “Okay then...”
“Wait, gala? What gala?” I snap out of Kael’s possessive gaze.
“I have to be at the Eclipse Gala.” Kael looks as if his words taste bitter coming out.
I stop. “You mean leave? Like you’re going to Vikktor’s party while your system is still compromised, and my brother is missing?”
“If I don’t show up, he’ll know something’s amiss. He already suspects I’m hiding you. He thinks you’re some sort of hologram I’m toying with. He just doesn’t know the extent of it yet.”
“If he ever figures it out, then you’re both dead,” Jett interrupts. His voice is stern; I can hear the warning in it.
Kael doesn’t move, still close enough to my projection that I flicker where our skin meets. “That’s why my plan is so brilliant, if I do say so myself. I’m not going without you,” he informs me.
I blink, taken aback. “What?!”
“You’re coming with me. Everyone brings PleazureHolos to these events, status symbols, walking works of art. Posturing for the elite. Vikktor will expect me to have one. And if you’re there with me, it will throw him off the scent. I can keep you close this way.”
“Kael, that’s insane. If he even looks too closely...”
“He won’t.” His tone leaves no room for debate. “I’ll code a shield into your basic program. You’ll read as a generic PleazureHolo, nothing more. If anyone asks, I’ll chalk it up to a new prototype I’m testing in the field. A more realistic, more human companion.”
I stare at him, torn between awe and fury. Everything about that statement is wrong, yet here we are. “So what?! I’m your fake date now?”
His lips twitch into a sinful smirk. “Something like that. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve escorted a beauty into a room full of beasts.”
A twinge of jealousy sparks inside me. Before I can fire back, Ember’s voice cuts in from across the lab.
She and Ash are carrying bags filled with food.
“Oh, she’s definitely going,” she says, grinning at me.
“If my father’s making me go to see him show off his robot monsters, then I’ll need someone to suffer with me. ”
Ash drops one of the bags onto the counter with a dramatic sigh.
“Is that what this thing you asked me to go to is?” He digs around searching inside the bag.
He plucks out something round and fried to a crisp.
“Oh, great, I’m just a boytoy now. Do I get hazard pay for standing in a room full of your father’s psychopath friends?
Because I’m gonna need a very large cocktail after experiencing all that moral corruption. ” He winks at Kael.
I shoot a glance at her. “What do you mean, Ash? You’re always arm candy. You enjoy it way too much.”
Ember winks. “Come on, every ‘PleazureHolo’ needs a really sexy, really expensive dress. I’ll help you design it. Kael can pay for it!”
“Anything she wants, Dr. Vosse.” Kael smiles, letting himself enjoy the expression for once. He turns back to Jett at the console, quickly returning to planning.
Ember pulls me over to her workstation, her fingers flying across the keys sending images to the holo-fields around us.
A cascade of dresses appear virtually: leather, silks, reflective mesh, threads that catch light like shooting stars.
“Ever worn anything from the House of Vosse line?” she teases.
She begins coding my dress into the PleazureHolo menu while slurping noodles. Kael disappears into his office, that fierce look returning to his brow, the one he gets when he’s working through the traffic jam of ideas in his head.
Jett eats the space between myself and him.
He turns to me, leading me away from Ember.
His breath is hot in my ear, as he leans in, eyes steadily tracking Kael.
“You know,” he says quietly, “Kael’s doing all this for you.
Taking you to the gala, the plan for extraction, all of it. Don’t make him regret the risk.”
His words hit deeper than I expect them to. He’s questioning my loyalty. “I won’t,” I whisper.
His mystery surrounds him like a shadow. Why? Why would he care where my devotion lies? He’s terrifying, not just in physicality. His presence is a vacuum any time he enters a room, and right now I feel it forcing me to confess any lies I may have hidden.
He assesses there’s no threat, no one watching, and brings my chin up to meet his gaze.
“I can confirm there are other forces at work here. A LumenSeer is part of the rebellion; she’s been able to predict the future for our cause.
You play a rather large role in it, Lyra.
” His dark eyes scan me for a reaction. “What if I told you the one who built your prison...isn’t the only one who can save you? ”
I snap my face away before Kael sees him touching me.
“I don’t care, Jett. I don’t want to be part of a revolution.
I want a shower, real food, a great night of sex, and a day where I don’t wake up screaming into the void.
You’re just offering me a cage with a softer mattress.
” I look over his shoulder at Kael, his back is still turned to us. “I’m not interested.”