Smoke curled through the air, mixing with shattered light and the scorched scent of dying code. His knees trembled, but he didn't fall.
Not yet.
The Protocol core hummed now—not with power, but fear. He had broken its chosen avatar. Defied its narrative. And now it watched, uncertain for the first time in its machine life.
[UNSTABLE INSTANCE CONFIRMED. ERROR: PRIMARY CONTAINMENT FAILURE.]
He turned to the girl.
She stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the flickering chamber light, gaze fixed on him. Her mouth opened, but the words never came. Instead, she stepped forward, slow—calculated, like he might still lash out.
"I thought I lost you," she said.
He didn't respond. His voice wasn't steady enough for truth.
But his eyes held her. And in them, she saw it.
He was still in there. Still him.
The moment broke when the Protocol spoke again—but this time, not in code.
In a voice that belonged to someone else.
Familiar.
His.
"You think you've won. But you're still syncing. Still vulnerable. This isn't a victory—this is a stall."
Pain stabbed behind his eyes. The floor rippled like water. The chamber flickered. He looked down at his hands—his veins pulsed with threads of light.
[SYNC RESUME: 9%... 10%...]
"No," the girl said, rushing to him. "You're destabilizing—it's trying to overwrite you again."
He staggered. Blood dripped from his nose. His breath came ragged. Her arms wrapped around him, grounding him.
"I'm not... letting it in," he growled.
But it was already there. He could feel it crawling through his spine, whispering promises. Seductive. Unstoppable.
"I need to sever it," she said, voice trembling. "We have one chance. One. But it's going to hurt."
He didn't hesitate.
"Do it."
She plunged the needle through his neck.
His scream wasn't human.
The Protocol reacted—howled. The room exploded in feedback. Lights burst. Glass shattered. Systems fried.
He fell.
And when he opened his eyes—
The world was burning.
And he was no longer alone in his head.