Elian hit the forest floor, a roll that turned into a desperate slide beneath the low-hanging branches of an ancient cedar. The air hissed as a green bolt of energy disintegrated a trunk just inches above his head, showering him in pine needles and splinters. He didn't look back to see Sarah and Thorne disappear into the thicket. He trusted her, the only absolute truth in a world of variables.
He had to be the distraction.
"Target is mobile," Hayes commanded, his voice as calm as if he were discussing quarterly earnings. "Do not kill him. I need his neural architecture intact."
Elian scrambled up a rocky embankment, his lungs burning with the sharp, clean oxygen of the real world. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest, but the memory of the thousand minds he had carried in the m
