The blue energy rising from the floor wasn't fire; it was a "Delete" command made manifest.
As the light touched the base of the stasis pods, the heavy metal simply vanished, leaving the unconscious occupants to fall into a void of white static. There was no sound of shattering glass, only the low, hungry hum of a world being scrubbed clean.
"Delta... please..." Alpha sobbed, her fingers digging into my windpipe.
The oily black substance leaking from her eyes wasn't blood. It was a liquid-state malware, a concentrated slurry of "Null-Code" that began to seep into my own skin wherever we touched. It felt like needles of ice being driven into my pores, freezing my pulse, turning my thoughts into jagged fragments of corporate policy.
"Let her go!" Silas roared.
He lunged forward, but the
