Chapter 16 — Dual Sync
The hangar detonated into chaos.
Dominion drop-pods slammed into the deck like meteors, splitting open to release armored soldiers. Plasma fire lit the air in violently bright streaks.
Mira and Lyra moved as if they shared a heartbeat — Mira laying down suppressing fire, Lyra carving a deadly path through soldiers who got too close.
But there were too many.
The boy knelt beside Kael, their hands clasped.
"Kael," he whispered, voice trembling, "we have to connect. PRIME can't stabilize unless we sync."
Kael's voice was a rasp. "You don't know what that will do to you."
"I know what happens if we don't."
Their eyes locked.
Kael saw fear — but not hesitation.
Kael swallowed hard. "Tell me your name."
The boy blinked, startled. "W-what?"
"You deserve a name." Kael's voice trembled. "Not a number."
The boy squeezed his hand.
"Eris."
Kael breathed the name like a vow.
"Eris… stay with me."
He guided their joined hands to the PRIME core.
The casing hummed. The core began to glow.
Lines of red energy crawled from Kael's arm to Eris's.
Eris gasped, eyes wide. "It burns—"
"I know," Kael whispered. "Don't pull away."
Inside the PRIME Sync Link
Darkness.
Then — light.
Kael and Eris stood in the void together now. PRIME's avatar waited, its form splitting in two, like mirrored reflections made of living circuitry.
‹ TWO HOSTS DETECTED ›
Kael stepped forward. "We're not hosts. We're partners."
The avatar flickered — destabilizing.
‹ IMPROPER. PRIME REQUIRES SINGULAR CONTROL ›
Eris lifted his chin. "Not anymore."
Lightning snapped between them. PRIME tried to force them apart, but Kael held Eris's hand tighter.
"Focus on me," Kael said. "Anchor yourself. Don't let it inside your head."
But the armor's voice slid into Eris like oil:
‹ YOU ARE MADE FOR THIS. HE IS BROKEN. LET GO. ›
Eris's breath hitched. His voice cracked.
"It's right. I was engineered to connect— you weren't."
Kael cupped Eris's face, forehead touching his.
"You were engineered to be used," Kael whispered. "Not to be alone."
Eris's pulse steadied.
The PRIME avatar reformed into a towering figure — hostile, luminous.
‹ CONTROL IS NECESSARY ›
"No," Kael said.
Eris echoed him, louder.
"No."
They stepped forward together.
And the avatar cracked.
Light poured out like a supernova.
Asteron Hangar — Reality
A shockwave of energy erupted from Kael and Eris, expanding outward in a perfect sphere. Dominion soldiers staggered as their weapons flickered dead.
Lyra froze mid-strike.
Mira's rifle powered off in her hands.
"What— what are they doing?" Mira yelled.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"They're overriding PRIME's command layer."
The PRIME core lifted from the floor, floating between Kael and Eris. Patterns of red and white energy spiraled outward, weaving between them like a shared heartbeat.
Kael and Eris spoke at once — voices unified.
"PRIME obeys its hosts."
Every Dominion soldier in the hangar collapsed — armor locking, visors blacking out.
The drop-pods powered down.
Silence rippled outward like a shockwave.
Mira lowered her rifle, stunned. ". . . Kael?"
He turned, still holding Eris's hand.
Both of their eyes glowed — no longer chaotic crimson, but a steady, controlled white.
"I'm here," Kael said — his voice his own.
Eris exhaled shakily. "So am I."
Mira choked out a laugh — half sob, half disbelief.
Lyra stepped closer. "We're not safe yet. The mountain is still collapsing."
Kael nodded.
"We're leaving."
He lifted his free hand.
The hangar doors — jammed under tons of debris — tore open as if they weighed nothing.
Light flooded in.
Kael's body shook, but he stood.
Not alone.
Eris squeezed his hand.
"Let's get everyone out."
Aboveground — Extraction
Transports lifted into the storm-choked night sky as Asteron began to crumble. Refugees cheered, wept, held onto each other.
Kael stumbled aboard the main transport. His knees gave out.
Mira caught him.
Eris knelt beside him, gripping Kael's arm.
Kael forced a weak smirk. "Still with me?"
Eris nodded. "Still here."
Mira wrapped an arm around both of them.
"You idiots just saved a mountain."
Kael leaned back against the bulkhead, exhausted.
"No," he whispered, eyes closing.
"We saved each other."
The transport shot upward as the underground base collapsed into itself — a plume of rock and fire erupting beneath them.
Kael's vision dimmed.
PRIME's voice whispered faintly in his mind — not commanding, not controlling.
Almost… asking.
‹ What now? ›
Kael smiled, barely conscious.
"Now… we choose."
Darkness took him.