Page 101 of GlitchBorn Heart

“That’s where he comes in.” Ember tilts her head toward the shadow in the lab doorway. Her eyes sparkle with interest.

The lab door hisses shut as Ember kills the music in the background. A lab employee leads in a man: taller than Kael, leaner than Ash. “Dr. Ryudon, you have a guest. He’s on your security list of approved visitors.”

“Thank you, Ms. Hiro. I’ll take it from here.” Ember approaches and dismisses the lab rat.

He steps inside like he owns the room, wired with a restless energy that makes the lab feel ten times smaller. His suit’s impeccable, the same style as Kael. There’s a chain with a small piece of circuitry hanging around his neck. A tattoo frames the necklace perfectly, snaking around his throat and continuing to his chest. The dark ink is ominous, arrows and reapers with wings. Raven black hair falls over his eyes, eyes that smolder like smoke and cinder, as dark as Kael’s but with pulses of deep maroon.

And I thought Kael was intimidating.

“SoulReaver,” Ash growls jokingly like he’s an announcer. “Jett, dude, in the flesh.” He smirks and rises to greet him. The words are casual but seem to carry a weight that says, This isn’t just a friend, this is someone important. “It’s not every day the head of the U21 rebellion walks into enemy territory.”

The guys grasp hands then rotate their grip to clasp each other’s thumbs, an audible snap follows. Solidarity or agreement? They obviously know each other well, yet I don’t remember hearing Kael speak of him.

“Ember...Jett Novarre.” Ash introduces her with a wave of his hand. “He’s a good friend from our childhood.” He raises his eyebrows at Kael, emphasizing the words good friend.

The look on Kael’s face. Like two gladiators thrown into the coliseum to fight to the death.

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.”