The Citadel trembled beneath our feet.
Kane dragged me through the smoke-filled corridor, her grip tight, unyielding. The alarms screeched, the walls flashing red, a pulsing heartbeat of the system itself trying to keep us contained.
But we weren’t going to be contained.
Not anymore.
I wiped blood from my forehead, my mind still foggy from the simulation, from the force of the Mind Cage trying to rewrite me. It hadn’t won, but it had left its mark. I could still feel the residue of something unnatural clinging to my thoughts. Fragments of memories that weren’t mine. Lives I had never lived.
Kane’s voice cut through the chaos.
“Tony, we need that system override now.”
I forced my legs to move faster. The Citadel’s core was close. The Last Algorithm—our only shot at breaking the Overs
