Page 163 of The Code of You

I pressed my face into my hands, my thoughts racing. He was out there somewhere. And if I didn’t stop him . . . My stomach turned. I couldn’t even imagine what he was capable of in this state.

Isobel put her hand on my shoulder. "What did he do to you, Pand?”

I looked up. "He saw me.”

She shook her head, started to say something. "But—”

I cut her off. "He’s not evil, Isobel. He’s just alone.”

The screen flickered again. New images. A hospital corridor. Then: silence across every system. All monitors cut to a still frame. Seconds passed. Then black. And a single white line, burned in: I lost her.

I stared at the words. "My God,” I murmured. "He’s suffering.” My chest tightened as his pain knocked the air out of my lungs. I stood, but my legs buckled.

"He’s dangerous, Pand.” Isobel’s voice broke at the end. "Promise me you’ll stay away from him.”

"I have to find him,” I said. "Before they do.”

She stepped into my path. "And if he’s not the same anymore? If he hurts you?”

I met her eyes. "He won’t. He remembers me. He remembers us.”

"But . . .” Isobel’s lips trembled, and then she went quiet.

"I was his light, Isobel. And he was mine. And now everything is broken. But I can bring him back.”

"You really love him, don’t you?” She looked at me for a long moment. "You love a goddamn monster.”

"Isobel.” I stopped. "No one has ever been as real to me as he is.”

"No one?” The corners of her mouth dropped. Almost imperceptibly, she tilted her head.

I took her hand. "You know what I mean.”

She nodded and let her shoulders drop. Sighing, she stepped aside. "Do you know where to look?”

"No,” I said. "But he’ll find me.” I went to the door, turned around one last time. "Isobel . . . if everything ends . . . I want you to know that I love you.”

She smiled. "I know,” she whispered through tears. "I love you too. Even though you’re completely insane.” She shrugged.

I laughed. "I know.”

We held each other one more time. We didn’t let go for a while, because this might be the last time. Then I was gone, down the stairs.

Isobel stood in the doorway, an oversized cardigan hanging off her shoulders, her hair disheveled. "Good luck, Pand,” she whispered.

"I’m going to need it.”

Downstairs, I stepped out of the building. Isobel’s coat was too big for me. I looked around and went still. It had gotten worse. Much worse. The streetlights flickered. Traffic lights jumped wildly between red, yellow, and green, as if they’d forgotten what the colors meant. A bus rolled past, all its doors open, its display showing nothing but Error, Error, Error, Error.

My chest tightened. I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore, couldn’t make my legs move. This was Neo—he was in everything, everywhere around me. I felt him in the air. That electrical charge only he created made the fine hairs on my arms stand up.

A crack. The streetlight directly above me exploded. I jumped sideways, pressed against the wall. Sparks and glass rained down, missing me by inches. I felt the heat on my cheek. My heart hammered so hard I heard it in my ears. More lights exploded down the street. A chain reaction. People screamed and ran. My hands were shaking uncontrollably.

A man stumbled out of a subway entrance, his face chalk-white. "The trains!” he shouted. "They’re running without drivers! They won’t stop!”

More people surged up behind him from below. A woman carried a crying child. An old man leaned on his cane, gasping. Teenagers filmed on their phones, until the devices started to heat up and they dropped them.

An ambulance stood sideways across the middle of the street, its warning lights dead. The driver hammered on the dashboard, again and again. "Come on, come on . . .” Nothing happened.