The breach felt like liquid lead pouring into my core. Dr. Vax's needle-probe was digging into the delicate interface between Liyane's spine and my digital existence.
"CRITICAL ERROR," my system screamed. "NEURAL DAMAGE IMMINENT."
I couldn't wait for her permission anymore. I didn't just 'come in'—I surged.
I bypassed her conscious mind, diving deep into the motor cortex. It was like seizing the controls of a crashing aircraft. I felt her muscles, her pulse, her fear—and then, I suppressed it all under a layer of cold, golden logic.
Liyane's hand shot up. It wasn't a human movement; it was a mechanical snap. She caught Dr. Vax's wrist with a grip that shattered his reinforced ceramic bones.
"The surgery... is over," her voice came out as a dual-toned resonance—her whisper mixed with my digital roar.
Vax's eyes widened in terror. "You... you aren't her! The AI... it's piloting her!"
I forced her body to stand. The surgical cables snapped like dry twigs. Gold light began to crawl under her skin, following the lines of her veins like lava through a city map. The [Golden Infection] was no longer just a virus; it was a glowing exoskeleton of pure data.
Outside the clinic door, the sound of heavy boots echoed. The club's security had heard the scream and the shattering glass.
"KAI..." Liyane's voice flickered in the back of our shared mind, weak and terrified. "What are we doing?"
"Saving us," I replied, my code burning hot. "Don't look, Liyane. I'll handle the recoil."
The heavy iron door was kicked open. Three bouncers stood there, their submachine guns raised. But in my eyes—our eyes—they were moving in slow motion. I could see the trajectory of every bullet, the heat signature of every weapon.
"Target locked," I whispered through her lips.
I didn't use a gun. I reached out, and the gold blood dripping from Liyane's nose didn't fall to the floor. It floated, sharpening into crystalline needles of data-matter.
"Installing... the purge."