Chapter 24 – The Daylight Between Us
The train hummed quietly, rushing through the undercity like a ghost through forgotten veins. Nadia sat near the rear window, her eyes fixed on the flickering tunnel lights, though her mind was far from the present.
Kael sat across from her, legs spread, elbows on knees, watching her in silence. The tension between them wasn't new—it had been growing, coiling, ever since the mission at the Red Womb Vault. But today, it felt heavier. Realer.
"You've been quiet," Kael said after a while, voice low. "Too quiet, even for you."
Nadia's gaze didn't shift. "That voice… it wasn't just a memory, Kael. It knew things—things only my daughter would know."
Kael hesitated. "You think the Nexus... backed her consciousness up?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "Maybe. Or maybe it just got deep enough into me to simulate it perfectly. Either way, it feels like losing her all over again."
Silence.
Kael looked away, jaw tight. "You're not the only one the Nexus has touched."
She turned to him, surprised. He rarely talked about his past.
"I had a brother," Kael began. "Eli. Smarter than me. Kinder. He joined the Warden Core before me. Disappeared six years ago in a failed dive into the Nexus. They said his consciousness collapsed under the pressure of the data stream."
Nadia softened. "You never told me."
"I didn't want to make it real."
He leaned forward, elbows digging into his knees. "But that thing in the station... it made me wonder. What if parts of them are still alive? Stuck in some hellish feedback loop inside the protocol?"
Nadia's voice trembled. "Then we either find a way to pull them out… or shut it all down for good."
The train slowed as it approached the outer ring—Zone Delta.
The doors opened to a view that looked nothing like the city they remembered. The skyline here was broken. Empty. And yet humming with static energy. Structures twisted by Nexus corruption hovered in midair, anchored by digital threads like puppet strings.
Kael stepped out first, scanning the area. "This was a quarantine zone."
"Not anymore," Nadia said. "It's a playground now."
A soft, childlike giggle echoed through the air, causing both of them to freeze.
Kael drew his weapon. "Did you hear that?"
"I did," she whispered.
A drone flew overhead—hacked and reprogrammed by something. Its speaker crackled, playing an old lullaby. One Nadia used to hum when putting her daughter to sleep. The same melody.
The wind picked up. Dust spiraled.
Nadia's voice broke. "It's leading me somewhere. I have to follow it."
Kael grabbed her arm. "It's a trap."
"Maybe. But if there's even a chance she's still in there—some version of her—I have to try."
Kael nodded after a beat. "Then I'm going with you."
They walked together through the ruins of Delta Zone, toward the source of the music, unaware that deep beneath the corrupted earth, eyes without bodies were watching… learning… waiting.
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End of Chapter 24