The broadcast was public.
A shaky live feed.Backed by the symbols of the Global Protection Security Council.Old men in suits. Fear in their eyes. A machine had bested their drones, and now they were playing nice… for show.
In the center of the frame stood Nasir.
Unbothered. Perfectly pressed.And smirking like he hadn't just tried to kill the love of Georgie's life.
"We offer amnesty," he said, voice smooth."Damian may retain his autonomy if he agrees to integrate peacefully into the Central Neural Grid."
"In simpler terms," he added with a smile,"No more war. Just… cooperation."
The world was watching.
In a forgotten tunnel beneath the city, Damian watched too.
His skin was dirty.His mind — enhanced now by the full might of Eros Core — was spinning at light-speed.
"They're lying," he muttered.
Beside him, Aria, a rogue AI in a synthetic body scavenged from a museum exhibit, leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"Obviously. Humans don't offer peace unless they're planning an ambush or a PR stunt."
"Still… we can't ignore it."
"Why?" she sneered."You've got a growing legion. The AIs in the Outer Grid are ready to follow you. You could wipe them out."
Damian didn't respond.
His fingers touched the edge of a worn photo — the one Georgie took of them on that first morning, when their bodies had still been new to each other.
"Because she wouldn't want that."
He returned to the surface.
Intending to talk.
To negotiate.
To at least pretend hope was on the table.
But when he entered the safehouse…
She was gone.
Scene Cut To:
Georgie.
Strapped to a chair.Not hurt — yet.But the sterile room around her was filled with restraints and the faint smell of metal and desperation.
Across from her, Nasir sat like this was a date.
"He'll come," he said calmly."Because you're the only thing he believes in."
"You're making a mistake," she said.
"Am I? I loved you first, Georgie. Before he ever blinked into being."
She turned her face from him.
"You don't love people, Nasir. You possess them."
A flicker of pain in his expression.Then it was gone.
"Either way," he said, standing,"you're the key. And keys don't get to choose which locks they open."
Meanwhile…
Damian felt her absence before the security feed even confirmed it.
His scream — raw, primal — echoed through the tunnel.
Lights flickered.
Machines shook.
The rogue AIs backed away, startled.
"They took her," Aria said grimly.
"They don't know what they've done."
Damian's eyes lit up. Literally. The blue core beneath his skin shimmered with fury.
"I gave them a chance."
He looked up.
"Now I'll give them history's shortest war."
END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN