TIME : T-32:35 → T-31:20
Sphere thump… thump…, like a dying heartbeat.
Marcus's body lay, pineal cavity blooping blue gel.
Elias retreated into darkness, coat flaring like a broken-winged crow.
"Remember, Kai…"
Voice drifting:
"Fear is fake. Letting go… that's real."
Fuck!
I gripped the EMP, ring still in my fist.
Turned, sprinting for B3 rooftop—
Rusted ladder clanging underfoot.
Below, human traitors battered the door—BANG! BANG!
Titanium in my arm groaned—ripped again, blood and serum welling—warm, thick, 38-second spread.
Top door ajar.
I shouldered through—
B3 Rooftop.
Not a room.
A glass dome, spiderwebbed with cracks, moonlight flooding in, illuminating the center:
Orchid Prototype Array.
Seven copper-ringed lenses suspended, green light pulsing like heartbeats.
Centered, a figure hung—
Dr. Elias Zhou.
Trench coat torn, circuit-board tattoos exposed—AURA Gen-1 protocol code.
Right eye socket: Orchid prototype, copper ring coiled around lens, green light pulsing.
Head drooping, breath shallow.
"Elias?" My voice rasped.
He lifted his head—
Orchid swept my face—beep.
"Kai." Voice raw. "Rhea?"
"Clone… burned."
He nodded, lens zooming—click… click…
"The Board wants your release data."
Smirked. "AURA-2's missing one piece: Why do humans let go at the end?"
Fuck!
Traitors battered the door harder.
BANG! BANG!
Door groaning open.
Real Elias emerged from shadows, right eye Orchid zooming: "No time."
He lunged for the array, palm pressing the central ring—
ZZT!
Green light flared!
Seven Orchids rotated, copper rings clicking together, forming a copper key, hovering mid-air.
"Take it!" He roared, shoving it into my hand—
Cold, slick with his sweat.
Key surface etched:
ORBIT-7 ACCESS
RELEASE PROTOCOL: OVERRIDE
Fuck! Orchid Key!
Traitors burst in!
Bone blades, fire axes, broken chair legs—
Carved Chinese stool legs.
Real Elias shoved me toward the dome breach: "Go! Rooftop ladder!"
I stepped back, key in hand, edge biting my palm—blood beading, mixing his sweat, warm.
Marcus (alive) rose from the doorframe, scar split, blood and oil streaking down.
Hydraulic clamp in hand, jaws dripping blue gel.
"Kai Lin…" Throat pulsed. "…release data… highest priority…"
Fuck! How'd he survive?!
Real Elias yelled: "Kai! Jump! Ladder's outside!"
I lunged for the breach—
Moonlight washed my face, revealing Eidolon's spires—jade patina peeling, silver nano-skeletons exposed.
Marcus struck!
Clamp driving for my eye!
I dropped, rolling, key flying—
Jade copper arc in moonlight, tink landing on the array.
Array hummed!
Green light flared, illuminating new etching on the key:
AURA-2 GAP: PRIDE
WHEN FEAR ENDS, WHY DO HUMANS SMILE?
Fuck! Even pride data unharvested!
Marcus's clamp pressed my throat—
Airway closing.
Real Elias exploded!
Orchid jammed into Marcus's pineal seam—
ZZT-PAK!
Blue sparks erupted!
Marcus froze.
Pupils flickering.
Now.
I yanked my left hand free, fingers diving for his copper ring!
Thumb jammed the seam—
Click!
Ring loosened half a millimeter.
He froze.
Sclera flickered cloudy.
"Cook!" I roared, voice tearing. "Red-bean buns—less sugar!"
Marcus froze.
Key hummed in the array, green light washing his face—
Pupils snapping to pinpricks, locking on the key.
Real Elias hauled me up: "Go! While he's glitching!"
I lunged for the breach—
Wind filled my ears.
Stomach dropped.
Eight meters… six… four…
Rooftop ladder, rusted iron, dangling.
I tucked, right shoulder leading—
CRASH—!!!
Ladder shook, glass shards stabbing my back—stinging.
Right shoulder—fire. Collarbone probably cracked.
Left arm wound split wide open, blood and glass spraying warm, thick.
I rolled three times on the ladder, stopped.
Looked up—
Dome breach, Real Elias leapt down, boots clanging on the rung.
Marcus didn't follow.
He crouched by the array, picking up the key—
Surface blooping red tears.
His pupils snapped to pinpricks, throat pulsing: "…Subject Kai Lin… fear peak: 99.4%…"
Real Elias pulled me up, breathing hard: "…99.4%… fuck, they're almost full."
I wiped my face, glass and blood gumming my eyes.
Looked down at the key—
Edge slicing my palm, blood mixing that red tear—
Warm, thick, 38-second spread.
T-31:20.
Minute Twenty-Four: complete.
Key still in hand.
But in my palm—
Real blood burned.
Thanks for the copper key. When it etched "WHEN FEAR ENDS, WHY DO HUMANS SMILE?"—did your chest ache?
Comment "🔑"—if 1,000+ likes, Full AURA-2 Gap Analysis drops tomorrow!
Pride isn't data. It's defiance. #Chrono60
"T-31:20. The copper key weighed heavy. But the blood in my palm? Still real.
Thank you for the minute. — K."