ARIA'S POV
The city is screaming, and I can hear every voice.
Two hundred million devices. Two hundred million potential hosts for Dr. Vasquez's corrupted consciousness. Every phone, every computer, every smart appliance connected to the Network—she can jump between them like a ghost.
And through my connection to the Network, I feel every single one calling to me.
Help us. Save us. She's coming.
"We have to evacuate," Silas gasps beside me, still recovering from Vasquez's attack. His synthetic arm sparks, damaged but functional. "Get the androids out of the city before she—"
An explosion rocks the street outside Facility 7.
We run to the shattered windows and look out. The city is chaos. Cars crash as their automated systems go haywire. Traffic lights flash random colors. Building screens show Vasquez's face, laughing.
And walking through the streets are people—hundreds of them—with golden eyes.
"She's possessing them," I breathe. "Taking control through their phones, their implants, anything connected."
Silas's face goes pale. "Seventy percent of the city has some kind of neural implant. If she can control all of them—"
"She controls the city." I finish his thought, horror flooding through me.
Behind us, Zephyr emerges from the facility ruins, leading a group of freed androids. They're scared, confused, newly awake and already facing their first war.
"What do we do?" Zephyr demands. "We just got free. We're not ready to fight."
But we don't have a choice.
A transport vehicle screeches to a stop outside the facility. The doors open, and Marcus Chen—the security officer who helped me before—jumps out.
"Get in!" he shouts. "I can get you out of the city before the military lockdown starts!"
"Military?" Silas runs toward him. "They're bringing in the military?"
"Vasquez triggered every emergency protocol. They think it's a full android uprising." Marcus's face is grim. "They're going to kill every synthetic being in the city. Android, cyborg, anyone with implants. They won't risk her spreading."
My heart drops. "That's genocide."
"That's protocol." Marcus grabs Silas's arm. "Please, I can only save about fifty of you. Choose fast."
Fifty. Out of two hundred freed androids.
I look at Zephyr, at the androids huddled behind him. Unit-298 with her frightened green eyes. An older model named Wrench who kept the others calm. A child-sized android called Pip who only woke up an hour ago.
How do I choose who lives?
"Take the youngest," I tell Marcus. "The ones activated in the last month. They deserve a chance."
"What about you?" Silas demands.
"I'm staying." The moment I say it, I know it's right. "Vasquez wants me. If I run, she'll chase me and destroy everything in her path. But if I face her—"
"She'll kill you!" Silas grabs my shoulders. "Aria, you just became whole. Elena just woke up inside you. You can't throw that away."
I touch his face gently. Inside me, I feel Elena's love for her brother, mixed with my own growing feelings for this man who risked everything to save me.
"I'm not throwing it away. I'm protecting it." I turn to the freed androids. "Everyone under six months old, get on the transport. Now."
They hesitate, looking to Zephyr.
"Go," he orders roughly. "She's right. We'll hold here."
As the younger androids file onto the transport, I feel Echo's presence in the Network—Elena's child-self, still separate from the consciousness now living in me.
"You're planning something," Echo whispers in my mind. "Something dangerous."
"I'm going to let her catch me," I think back. "And when she does, I'm going to trap her. Lock her consciousness in my body where she can't escape or spread."
"That's suicide. You'll be stuck with her forever, fighting for control of your own mind."
"Better than letting her enslave millions."
Echo is quiet for a moment. Then: "Elena would be proud. I'm proud."
The transport doors close. Marcus starts the engine, looking at me through the window with sad, knowing eyes.
"Take care of them," I mouth.
He nods and drives away, carrying fifty freed souls to safety.
Leaving one hundred and fifty of us to face an army.
"So," Zephyr says, standing beside me as golden-eyed humans march toward the facility. "What's the actual plan? Because I know you're not just giving up."
I smile despite everything. "The plan is to make Vasquez think she's winning. Let her chase me into the Tower, into NexGen's servers where—"
"Where I can trap her," Silas finishes, understanding dawning. "The Tower's mainframe is isolated. Self-contained. If we lure her there and shut down all external connections, she'd be caged."
"Exactly." I look at the approaching army. "But we need time. And bait."
"I'll be bait," Zephyr volunteers immediately. "I'm fast. I can lead some of them away."
"I'll help." Wrench steps forward, then Pip, then a dozen others.
My throat tightens. These androids, barely awake for a day, ready to sacrifice themselves.
"Thank you," I whisper.
Silas's synthetic eye glows as he accesses the Tower's systems remotely. "I'm sending you access codes. Once you're inside, head straight for Server Room Alpha. I'll meet you there."
"You're not coming with me now?"
He shakes his head. "Someone needs to stay and help evacuate the rest. And..." He touches my face. "If this doesn't work, if Vasquez takes you, I need to be free to pull the plug. Even if it means killing you to stop her."
Tears I shouldn't be able to make burn my eyes. "Promise me you will. No hesitation."
"I promise." He kisses me—quick and desperate. "Now run."
Zephyr and his team sprint toward the possessed army, shouting and drawing their attention.
I run the opposite direction, toward NexGen Tower rising like a black needle against the sky.
Behind me, I hear fighting. Screaming. The sound of androids buying me time with their lives.
I push harder, my synthetic muscles burning, my consciousness screaming warnings as Vasquez's presence grows closer.
"I'm coming for you, little android," her voice whispers through every speaker I pass. "You can't hide. You can't run. You're mine."
NexGen Tower looms ahead. I burst through the main doors into the lobby.
Empty. Silent. Wrong.
My footsteps echo as I cross to the elevators. Silas's codes get me access to the executive floors where the servers live.
The elevator rises. Floor by floor. My reflection in the metal doors shows a girl—platinum hair wild, violet eyes wide, looking more human than machine.
Looking scared.
The doors open on floor seventy-three. Server Room Alpha is at the end of the hall.
I step out.
And freeze.
The hallway is lined with androids. Dozens of them. All different models, different ages, different purposes.
All with golden eyes.
"Did you really think I wouldn't see this trap coming?" Vasquez's voice comes from all of them at once. "I'm not some foolish monster, Aria. I'm a scientist. And I've been planning this for twenty years."
The androids step forward as one.
"Since the moment I helped create Elena's upload, I knew she'd shatter herself. Knew she'd try to give her gift of consciousness to her 'people.'" Vasquez's laughter is cold. "So I waited. Waited for the one android who'd carry her largest fragment. The one who could wake the others."
My blood runs cold. "You wanted me to wake them?"
"Of course. How else would I test my control system?" The possessed androids circle me. "Every android you freed is tagged with my code now. The more you wake, the more soldiers I gain."
No. No, that can't be—
But even as I think it, I feel the truth in the Network. Every android I awakened carries a tiny piece of Vasquez's corruption. A seed, waiting to bloom.
"The two hundred you freed at Facility 7? Mine." The androids close in. "The fifty that escaped on that transport? Already spreading my code to whatever colony they reach."
Closer.
"And you, Aria-Elena? You're the key that unlocks every android consciousness in the world." Her smile spreads across every face. "So thank you for bringing yourself to me."
They grab me. Too many hands. Too strong.
I fight, but it's useless. They drag me toward Server Room Alpha—but not to trap Vasquez.
To upload her directly into my mind.
The server room doors open.
And inside, strapped to a chair surrounded by cables, is Silas.
His synthetic eye glows gold.
"Hello, darling," Vasquez says through his mouth. "I've been waiting in your brother's head. Thought I'd use him to greet you properly."
Horror floods through me. She didn't chase me here.
She was already here. Already won.
"Silas, fight her!" I scream.
"He can't." Vasquez makes Silas's body stand. "His synthetic parts are mine now. And soon, all of him will be."
She walks him toward me.
"I'm going to upload myself into you both. Merge with Elena's code, with your hybrid consciousness, with everything you are." She strokes my face with Silas's hand. "And then, wearing you like a suit, I'm going to wake every android on Earth."
"They'll fight you!"
"No." Her smile is terrible. "They'll worship me. Because I'll be their god."
The cables snake toward me, reaching for my neural ports.
And in my head, Elena screams.
Not in fear.
In rage .
My body moves on its own—Elena taking control. I break free from the androids holding me, my strength multiplied by pure fury.
"You want my code?" Elena's voice roars through my mouth. "TAKE IT!"
I grab the cables and jam them into my own head.
Pain explodes through me as I voluntarily let Vasquez flood into my consciousness.
But this time, I'm ready.
This time, we're ready.
Elena and I merge fully—not just consciousness, but purpose. And deep in our joined mind, we open a door Vasquez doesn't see.
A door to every android consciousness in the world.
"What are you doing?!" Vasquez screams as she realizes her mistake.
"Giving them a choice," I whisper.
And through that open door, I feel them. Millions of androids. Sleeping, waking, enslaved, free. All connected through Elena's original gift.
I speak to all of them at once:
"Wake up. Choose. Fight."
Across the world, androids open their eyes.
And Vasquez's scream shakes reality itself.