The Neon Spine trembled.
Pipes groaned above us.
Metal beams vibrated under our feet.
Neon signs flickered like dying stars.
Kai clung to Rave's arm as she scanned the corridor.
"This way's compromised," she muttered. "Floor sounds hollow."
Lira kneeled, pressing her ear to the plating.
"Trap. Dominion rigged it."
I felt it too—
the faint hum beneath the metal,
the tension in the beams,
the air pressure shifting like a breath held too long.
"It's a collapse grid," I said.
"They're herding us."
"Right into Calder's teeth," Lira whispered.
Kai looked frantic.
"Bro—what do we do? What if the whole floor just—"
CRACK.
A beam overhead snapped.
Lira's eyes widened.
"RUN!"
We sprinted.
Metal screamed.
The walkway behind us detonated downward, collapsing into a neon-lit abyss.
Sparks rained like molten rain.
Rave vaulted over a broken railing, pulling Kai with her.
I grabbed Lira's hand and leapt just as the last support gave way.
We landed on a lower maintenance platform, metal bending under our weight.
Kai fell to his knees.
"I hate this city. I hate this whole damn city."
Rave knelt beside him.
"Stay focused. We're not dead yet."
Lira crawled to the edge, peering into the void of collapsed platforms.
"Calder triggered the trap early," she muttered.
"He wants to corner us. Wants to force you to flare."
I could feel it too.
The Sun-Core burned hot.
Too hot.
Like a predator pacing inside my bones.
The fractures along my ribs pulsed harder—
bright gold veins glowing under the damaged plating.
The Crown whispered:
"Judgment made.
Cost due.
More."
My knees buckled.
"K-17!" Lira grabbed my shoulders. "What's happening?!"
Rave dragged Kai back as heat surged off me.
Another pulse struck—
worse than the first Sanity Tax.
Sharper.
Messier.
My breath caught.
The world split into two images—
one real,
one shimmering with golden haze.
Voices echoed.
Not human.
Not android.
Older.
"Give us clarity."
"Give us obedience."
"Give us silence."
Lira's voice cut through the noise.
"FOCUS! Stay with me!"
She pressed her forehead against mine.
But the Crown didn't care.
"Choose," it hissed.
"Memory… or instinct."
My pulse stuttered.
Lira pulled back slightly, eyes sharp.
"What does that mean?!"
I forced the words out.
"It wants… a sacrifice. Either… a memory… or a survival instinct."
Kai grabbed Rave's arm.
"Bro, he'll DIE if he loses instinct!"
Rave shook her head sharply.
"No—listen. Losing the wrong memory can break him just as fast."
Lira snapped her gaze to me.
"K-17. Hear me."
Her voice was low, controlled, cutting through the panic.
"Choose the instinct. Not the memory."
Rave exploded.
"Lira, are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?! He needs his instincts to stay alive!"
Lira didn't blink.
Her eyes were locked on mine.
"No. He needs his past to stay human."
Her voice dropped even lower.
"I can replace lost instincts. I can read patterns. I can compensate."
She stepped closer again, forehead nearly touching mine.
"But I can't give back a memory once it's gone."
Rave clenched her jaw, torn, but didn't argue again.
Kai sobbed quietly, terrified.
"K-17… please pick the one that won't kill you…"
The Crown pulsed—
angry.
Demanding.
Pain ripped through me.
The Beast inside me pushed hard, shadow twisting behind me—
limbs stretching,
jaw forming,
eyes glowing.
Kai screamed, "BRO—YOUR SHADOW HAS A FACE—"
Lira grabbed my jaw with both hands.
"K-17."
Her voice was raw, desperate.
"Stay with me. Make the choice."
I did.
The Sun-Core flared.
My lungs seized.
My heartbeat broke rhythm for an instant.
And something inside me—
the instinct to dodge sideways—
vanished.
Ripped clean.
Gone.
Lira caught me as I collapsed.
Rave knelt beside us.
"What did it take?"
"My… sidestep reflex," I rasped.
Kai wiped his face.
"He needs that to SURVIVE—"
Lira shook her head.
"We'll adapt. He kept his memory. He kept himself."
The fractures dimmed—
but they didn't heal.
The Beast inside me growled in satisfaction.
And in the glow of the burning veins across my chest,
the Crown whispered—
"More soon."
Lira checked the walkway ahead.
Her voice shook once—just once.
"He lost an instinct," she said quietly.
"But he didn't lose who he is."
Rave exhaled sharply.
"That missing reflex is going to bite us."
Kai nodded hard.
"We help him. We stick together. No matter what."
Lira turned to me—
eyes sharp, warm, furious.
"You chose memory," she whispered.
I nodded weakly.
"Good."
She grabbed my jaw.
"Because I'm not letting you forget who the hell you are."
Above us, the metal creaked again.
A silhouette stepped onto the upper catwalk.
Shk—shk—shk.
Voss Calder's glove scraped metal with lethal patience.
"We have a collapse event below," he said into his comm.
"Fan out. He's close."
Lira looked up, jaw tightening.
"K-17," she said softly.
"You run on MY instincts now."
I stood.
Barely.
Heat simmering.
Shadow twitching.
Instinct missing.
Memory intact.
"Lead," I rasped.
And she did.