Ava sat curled up sideways on Lucas's lap, his arms loose around her waist. She wasn't relaxed—but she wasn't resisting. She hadn't moved since she whispered "It wasn't a complaint" which was five minutes or so ago.
And he hadn't said anything back.
Not because he didn't have thoughts—he did. Too many. Too fast.
But the moment felt glass-thin.
If he moved the wrong way, it might shatter.
So he let her sit.
Her eyes stared past the cracked windshield, out into the broken world rolling by in flickers of sunlight and collapsed storefronts.
She wasn't seeing it.
She was seeing him.
And most disturbingly—what part of her hadn't hated what he had done.
Then—
[SYSTEM UPDATE DETECTED]
[INITIATING PHASE 2 MODULAR UPGRADE – BIOPHYSICAL PACKAGE]
[TRIGGER SOURCE: BLOOD EXCHANGE – EXTERNAL MUTATION]
[INTERFACE ALERT: PAIN THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]
[BEGINNING FULL-BODY RECONSTRUCTION]
[WARNING: USER IS NOT IN STASIS]
Her vision blurred.
