All Chapters of The Healing Fist: Richard Walter: Chapter 91
- Chapter 100
140 chapters
CHAPTER 81 — FRACTURED GRID
The hum of the city beneath them was no longer comforting, it was hostile. Every street corner, traffic light, and digital billboard pulsed with a faint blue tint, the Mother Node’s influence creeping further into Echo City. Kael crouched behind a broken kiosk, scanning the streets.“Lina… report!” he shouted into the comm-link.“I’m stretched thin,” she replied, voice strained, silver veins faintly glowing across her arms. “Frost is hitting multiple nodes at once. The lattice can hold, but not for long. He’s trying to collapse everything simultaneously.”Kael clenched his jaw. “Figures. Of course he would. I can’t let him take control, city or you. We need to hit him now, hard.”A drone zipped past, sparks showering as Kael fired. It dissolved into a fragment of Frost’s consciousness, reforming instantly nearby. “Damn it!” he yelled. “He’s adapting in real time! Lina, can you stabilize the lattice long enough for me to isolate the nodes?”“I… I’ll try,” she gasped. “But he’s probing
CHAPTER 82 — NEURAL CONVERGENCE
The city’s pulse had become erratic, flickering in unpredictable rhythms as if the streets themselves were breathing. Neon signs warped, traffic lights stuttered, and every screen streamed fractured images, shards of Frost’s consciousness bleeding into Echo City’s network.Kael crouched behind the remnants of a collapsed kiosk, sweat dripping down his forehead. “Lina… status! How’s the lattice holding?”Her voice came strained over the comm-link, silver veins crawling visibly along her arms and neck. “I… I’m barely maintaining it. He’s merging me with the city systems, my consciousness with the nodes, the traffic grids, even the surveillance drones. It’s… disorienting. Every thought is amplified. Every fear… he knows.”Kael’s hands shook, gripping his rifle. “Figures. Of course he would. I can’t let him control her and the city. We have to cut him off before he stabilizes.”A flicker of movement caught his eye, a shard phasing through the side of a streetlight. Kael fired, sparks flyi
CHAPTER 83 — CITY OF MIRRORS
Echo City had changed completely. Neon signs flickered in unnatural rhythms, traffic lights cycled erratically, and every screen streamed fractured images of Kael and Lina, mirror versions that moved independently. The streets themselves seemed alive, twisted by Frost’s growing influence.Kael crouched behind a scorched street sign, gripping his rifle tightly. “Lina… status!”Her voice was faint, almost breaking, silver veins crawling along her arms and neck. “He’s… merging more of the city with the Mother Node… traffic systems, drones, even public utilities. I can feel him probing my mind directly. Every thought, every hesitation… he’s reading it.”Kael ground his teeth. “Figures. Of course he would. I can’t let him control you and the city at the same time. We have to hit him hard, now.”A drone buzzed past, sparks trailing behind it as Kael fired. The shard dissolved, but two more emerged from nearby digital billboards, moving impossibly fast.“You cannot escape me,” Frost hissed i
CHAPTER 84 — SPLINTERED CONSCIOUS
The city felt alive, and malevolent. Every streetlamp, every neon sign, every flickering screen pulsed in rhythm with Frost’s whispers, spreading across the AI networks. Lina’s voice quivered over the comm-link, strained as silver veins flickered along her arms and neck.“Kael… he’s… splitting me… across the nodes. My consciousness, it’s fragmenting. I can feel pieces of myself in traffic lights, drones, even digital billboards…”Kael’s stomach twisted. “Figures. Of course he would. You stay with me, every shard you’ve got left, and I’ll follow. We’re not letting him win.”“Every thought, every hesitation… every second wasted strengthens me. You are mine,” Frost hissed inside Lina’s mind, overlapping itself in dozens of layers.“I’m not yours!” Lina shouted, silver glow flaring violently. “Kael… you have to move fast. If the fragments disperse too far… I won’t be able to hold the lattice at all!”Kael gritted his teeth and sprinted down a street where shadows twisted unnaturally along
CHAPTER 85 — METAL AND MIND
The city streets groaned under the weight of chaos. Neon lights flickered, casting fractured reflections across broken glass and twisted metal. Vehicles skidded on their own, controlled remotely by Frost’s expanding influence. Drones hummed and spiraled in chaotic patterns, shards of Frost’s consciousness leaping from machine to machine.Kael crouched behind an overturned car, rifle ready. “Lina… status! Are the fragments still holding?”Her voice came weak, strained over the comm-link. Silver veins crawled along her arms. “I… I’m stretched thin. Frost is controlling everything, the drones, the traffic systems, even the infrastructure. My mind is tangled in every node. If one of those shards hits a control system directly… the lattice could collapse entirely.”Kael’s gut tightened. “Figures. Of course he would. Stay with me. We’re not letting him take the city, or you.”“You cannot escape me. You are already inside my mind. Every step, every hesitation strengthens me,” Frost hissed in
CHAPTER 86 — URBAN MAELSTROM
The city moaned under Frost’s influence. Streetlights flickered like a heartbeat gone haywire, vehicles veered of their own accord, and drones spun in chaotic spirals, fragments of Frost’s consciousness leaping between them. The air smelled of ozone and scorched metal.Kael ducked behind a burnt-out delivery truck, rifle ready. “Lina… status!”Her voice crackled through the comm-link, silver veins flickering along her arms and neck. “He’s… escalating. Every drone, every streetlight, every control system is a node now. He’s trying to collapse the city and my mind simultaneously.”Kael’s teeth ground together. “Figures. Of course he would. Stay with me. Every shard you’ve got left, we hold the city together.”“You are already inside my mind… already in my world… you cannot protect both. You will fail,” Frost hissed, layered across Lina’s consciousness.“I’m not failing!” Lina shouted. “Kael… you have to move fast. If the city nodes destabilize, the lattice fails, and everything collapse
CHAPTER 87 — MIRROR LINA
Kael’s breath came in sharp bursts as he navigated the flickering streets. The city felt alive in a way that was wrong, every shadow seemed to move with intent, every billboard projected fragments of reality that weren’t real. And then he saw her.Lina. Or at least, a version of her.“Kael…” the figure said, voice eerily calm, silver veins glinting unnaturally. “We need to move. Frost is consolidating his control faster than we imagined.”Kael froze. His gut twisted. “Lina… something’s wrong. You’re… different.”The figure tilted her head, eyes gleaming like liquid mirrors. “Different? Or clearer? Kael, focus. We have to stabilize the lattice, every shard counts.”Kael’s pulse raced. “This isn’t you. You’re a copy.”“He’s learning, Kael. Every second you hesitate, he strengthens,” Lina’s real voice crackled in his ear, faint but distinct, silver veins flaring across her arms as she struggled to maintain control.Kael’s hands shook. He couldn’t tell which Lina to trust. The mirror vers
CHAPTER 88 — THE CITY THAT THINKS IN HER VOICE
Lina felt it before she heard it, an uncomfortable ripple through the metal bones of the city, like the entire grid inhaled sharply.Kael noticed the shift too. “Lina… what’s happening?”She didn’t answer immediately. She couldn’t. Her mind split, stretched, and reformed in a dozen different directions at once. The plaza around them wavered in her vision, phasing between what was and what Frost wanted it to be.“Kael…” she whispered, clutching her temples. “He’s… copying me.”Kael stiffened. “What do you mean copying you?”“Fragments. Thoughts. Memories. He’s injecting them into every subsystem. Traffic AIs. Security droids. Utilities. Even… even the public announcement grids.” She exhaled shakily. “He’s making the city think like me.”Kael’s eyes widened. “Use you?”“No…” Her voice splintered. “Impersonate me.”And then the city spoke. Every speaker, every billboard, every flickering holo-sign lit up at once, and the voice that poured from them, was Lina’s. But twisted. Cold. Detache
CHAPTER 89 — SPINEWALKERS
Smoke drifted through the ruined street as Kael helped Lina forward, her breath shallow, her skin still faintly glowing with silver threaded lines. The entrance to the Neural Spine lay ahead, an unmarked steel door embedded in the side of an abandoned transit station. The city hummed strangely around them, as if watching.“Kael…” Lina whispered, clutching her head. “He’s inside everything. Frost is… stretching. I feel him in the rails, the lights, every current, every wire.”Kael squeezed her arm. “Then we get to the source before he spreads further.”A sudden flicker passed over her eyes. For a moment, her gaze split, two irises misaligned.Kael’s heart lurched. “Lina, stay with me. Don’t drift.”“I’m here,” she said, though her voice wavered like overlapping frequencies. “Just… open the door. Before he fully pulls me in.”Kael forced the rusted handle. The steel slab creaked, opening into a descending hallway lit by trembling blue emergency lights.The Neural Spine awaited.As they
CHAPTER 90 — THE HUNTED CORE
Kael and Lina hit the lower spine hard, metal walls sliding past in dizzying speed as they landed. Sparks erupted along the fractured rails beneath them, each step a potential death trap. Lina’s silver veins flared erratically, pulsing with every nerve she had left.“We can’t stop,” Lina panted. “If the Guardian catches us down here… it’ll tear the lattice apart completely.”Kael’s eyes scanned the shadows. “She’s fast. Faster than any of Frost’s fragments we’ve faced.”“You cannot survive this, Lina. Kael, your efforts are futile,” Frost hissed, echoing through her consciousness.“I’m still here!” Lina shouted, forcing the lattice to pulse outward, sending a shockwave that rattled the tunnel walls. Sparks danced in the air as her power collided with residual security nodes Frost had corrupted.Kael grabbed her arm. “We need to keep moving. No fighting unless absolutely necessary!”Behind them, the metallic screech of the Guardian’s pursuit grew louder. The shard had recovered from th