“We did it,” Lena whispered, running up to him. “Look at the sky… it’s real again.”
“Only for a moment,” Carter said, forcing himself upright. He stared at his hand. The chip was gone, just melted right into his blood. Now those sapphire lines on his skin twisted together with white, permanent. “The other two Pillars are pulling more power. They’re cranking up the upload to kill the reboot.”
“Level 21 Status: Evolving. New Sub-Class Detected: The Debugger.”
Carter glanced out at the horizon. The Spire still throbbed with that sick, golden light. Somewhere out there, Jax’s presence flickered—weak, but on the move. They’d won a battle, sure, but the city was still just a mess of broken code and chaos.
“We need to find Jax and get to the next Pillar,” Carter said. His voice sounded strong
