The first shot rang out, splintering the wood of the tree above us. Alexandra moved like lightning, drawing her sidearm and returning fire, her eyes cold and focused. But she wasn't looking at the target—she was looking at me, making sure I was moving.
We dove into the river, the cold water shocking my system. As we swam toward the hidden skiff, I felt a strange, familiar tingle at the base of my skull. It wasn't the System. It wasn't the Vane technology.
It was something older.
As Alexandra climbed into the boat and reached down to pull me up, our wet hands locked together. In that moment, a pulse of pure, white light rippled between our palms.
[NEW PROTOCOL DETECTED: SOUL-SYNCHRONIZATION 100%]
The screen didn't appear in the air this time. It appeared in our minds—together. We had destroyed the machine, but the bond we had forged through two hundred chapters of trauma and triumph had created something the Vanes never intended. A power fueled not by data, but by devotion.
"Did you see that?" she gasped, hauling me onto the deck.
I looked at the shore, where twenty armed men were frozen in place, their electronic scopes suddenly glitching and dying. I looked back at Alexandra, her eyes glowing with a soft, steady silver light that matched my own.
"They wanted a King," I said, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across my face as I took the wheel. "But they're getting something else entirely. Ready to show them what happens when the Delta actually fights back?"
Alexandra gripped her weapon, her silver eyes reflecting the stars. "Let's go home, Xavier."