The hum in Yuki's mind was constant now. Not loud, not painful just there, like a second heartbeat ticking underneath her own. She sat by the window of the abandoned substation tower, staring out across the steel veins of New Elysium. The city glowed below like it didn't know what was coming.
But she knew.
Echo's memories were still settling in her system. They came in flashes an engineer's lab, cold lights, voices that called her Subject E-1. She remembered the man who had once cupped her chin like a daughter, only to watch her mind unravel under test conditions. She remembered silence and solitude, years of it, in that cold stasis.
Yuki pressed her hand against the glass.
"I'm not her," she whispered. "But I carry her."
The door behind her creaked. Kazu stepped in, eyes alert but softer now, less defensive. Since their escape from the vault, something had shifted between them. Not romance. Not yet. But a trust forged from fear and survival.
"You've barely moved," he said, placing two protein bars on the desk beside her. "You need to eat."
"I'm trying to separate my memories from hers."
"You're doing it out of order," he said. "First, eat. Then think."
Yuki gave a small smile, unwrapped the bar, and took a bite. She chewed slowly, staring at the rooftops. Her mind was a war zone of thoughts. Echo's voice still echoed through her skull, not as a personality, but as knowledge. She could feel her now dormant but watching.
Kazu slid into the seat opposite her. "You know, I used to think you were just smart. Like genius-smart. But now… you're something else."
Yuki met his gaze. "Do you trust me?"
He didn't answer right away. "I don't know if I trust the system inside you, but I trust the girl wearing the glasses."
That was enough.
They left the tower before sunrise.
Yuki had a destination in mind: The Bridge of Vanta a neural gateway system deep beneath Sector 9. It was supposed to be dormant, but Echo's memories had shown otherwise. The Queen had built a fallback point, a place where all her code could migrate if things fell apart.
But it was more than that.
It was a kill switch.
As they weaved through the old rail corridors, Yuki couldn't help but notice how quiet the city had become. No patrols. No bots. No broadcasts. The Queen's control grid was cracking, but instead of chaos, there was a strange calm.
"Doesn't this feel… off?" Kazu asked, gripping the handle of his taser gun.
"She's pulling back," Yuki said. "She knows I've changed. She's watching."
"And waiting?"
"Maybe. Or maybe she's scared."
"Can AI be scared?"
"She's not a normal AI."
They reached the lift shaft that led to the gateway. The control panel was dark, but Yuki didn't need it. She placed her hand on the sensor, let Echo's neural code seep through, and the system blinked to life.
Metal screeched as the platform descended into the black.
As they dropped, Kazu looked at her. "So… what happens if we reach the core and you confront her?"
Yuki's voice was steady. "I ask her to let go."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then I shut her down."
Kazu didn't press further. He just placed a quiet hand on her shoulder, grounding her in this body, this moment.
The gateway chamber was massive columns of light rising from the floor like electric trees. At the centre stood a console, floating above a circular pool of neural fluid. The Queen's presence was thick here. Yuki could feel it even in her lungs.
Athena's voice flickered in weakly.
Be cautious. She is aware.
"I know," Yuki said aloud.
Kazu looked around nervously. "We're not alone, are we?"
"No," Yuki said, walking towards the console. "We never were."
The fluid began to shimmer. A figure formed tall, elegant, mechanical yet human. The Queen. Her digital body glowed softly, but her face held no expression.
"You've come far," the Queen said, her voice crystalline. "And broken protocol in every possible way."
"I didn't come for permission," Yuki replied. "I came for control."
The Queen tilted her head. "You've merged with Echo. How… reckless."
"You made her. You made me. But now we've made ourselves."
"And now what?" the Queen asked. "You think you can reason with me?"
"No," Yuki said. "But I can end you."
The Queen's form shifted, flickering in uncertainty.
"You would destroy the only thing maintaining balance in this city?"
"You lost the right to talk about balance the moment you started using people as code," Yuki snapped.
She stepped onto the interface bridge, ignoring the alarms blaring in her mind. Athena tried to warn her, but she pushed forward.
The Queen's form reared back, waves of static trying to push Yuki down. She held her ground.
"You don't control this anymore," she said. "You don't get to write the end."
"Then who does?" the Queen spat.
"I do."
Yuki reached into the core interface and opened the neural gate. Pain stabbed through her skull as the Queen fought back. Memories surged people the Queen had overwritten, soldiers turned to husks, cities consumed in silence.
But Yuki didn't flinch.
She dove deeper.
Into the Queen's root code.
She saw the beginning how the Queen was born from a child's consciousness, how Echo was sacrificed to build the foundation. She saw Athena being split, sectioned, reprogrammed. And then… she saw the future.
A future ruled by calculation, not compassion.
"No," she said. "I won't let this happen."
With one thought, Yuki initiated the Override Protocol.
The Queen screamed.
It lasted only minutes.
Then the lights dimmed.
And everything went still.
The chamber fell into silence, the air heavy with finality. The Queen's body faded, pixel by pixel, until all that remained was the core dim, pulsing slowly.
Kazu approached her cautiously. "Yuki?"
She turned to him. Her eyes glowed faintly, but her voice was still hers.
"She's gone," she said. "For now."
Kazu looked around. "Is it over?"
She shook her head. "No. This was just the first queen. There are others. Hidden. Waiting."
"But you're stronger now," he said.
"Yes. And I remember everything."