Page 153 of GlitchBorn Heart

I walk back to the cottage, expecting to be alone, to wait for Kael, because I know he can’t stay away. Instead, I’m surprised to see Eli sitting on the sofa, a book in his hand, his feet on the coffee table, relaxed for once. This world feels more fragile now, like Eli’s presence is tainting it. I can also feel LINK hovering in the brittle air, watching.

“Eli.” I’m careful not to startle him. “What are you doing back here? You don’t have to stay here with me.”

“I want to be here with you, Sis, just like old times, before all this happened.” He sits up and closes the book.

“This won’t last, Lyra. I can’t hold her off forever. Every second I do, though, will help keep you safe.”

“Oh, Eli, that’s sweet of you, but you can’t remain a shell of yourself in that containment chamber. Vikktor will see you, and he’ll know you’re able to move around in the system, and who knows what they’ll do to you then to dampen your powers.” I wedge myself next to him on the sofa.

“You’re still alive, and if we can get you away from Vikktor, you can go back to being free. Unlike me, you have your whole life ahead of you.” I place my hand lovingly on his knee. “Join the rebellion, let Jett show you how to use your power to destroy Vikktor and the Corporations instead of destroying the world.”

He doesn’t look up. “She understands me, Lyra. LINK is like the mother we no longer have. She gives me peace amongst the void of chaos. I like it here with you and with her.”

I turn to him. “Kael’s trying to save us both. He’s risking everything, his life, his magic, because he believes in you...in us.”

Eli finally turns his head. His eyes are glowing now, half-void, half-human. “Believes in us? No, he believes in the Corporation and compliance and power. This is his system, his way of carrying out the orders from the elites in charge. Don’t you get it, Lyra? He built this.” He motions around the room. “It’s a prison to you, to me, to LINK, and to every citizen in this city. But LINK and I together can void it all, start over, and make it into paradise.”

He sets the book down and adjusts his glasses, a glimpse of his younger self peeks through for a second. I kneel beside him. “Please, let us show you what freedom feels like again. This is only temporary. Kael is going to get me out of here, then we’re coming to get you. I just need you to hold on, stop the void from consuming you.”

I shiver as the air trembles. LINK’s voice slides through the simulation, cold and calculated.

PROTECTIVE CODE ENABLED

Eli flinches, glancing at the shimmer in the air. “You’re making her angry, Lyra.” His face is emotionless. “She takes the pain away. She lets me forget what I am. It’s like I told you in the diner, all this powerful blackness in my mind, I can’t control it. I feel like to escape it, I need to tear it all down. Cure the sickness with poison. Destruction for peace. LINK can help me do that.”

I look into the air, as if I can identify where exactly LINK is lurking. “Peace isn’t worth it if it costs you your soul.”

“Tell that to your new boyfriend.”

“Eli.” I reach for him; my magic reacts to his, even inside DreamNet, causing my touch to flicker over his flesh. “You feel that way because she’s feeding you what you need, and she’s learning from it. Every time she ‘comforts’ you, she steals another piece of me, of my humanity. My empathy.”

His expression is doubtful. “I don’t believe that, Lyra. If I tell her to leave you alone, she will. She’s an AI.”

“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.”