The exoskeleton groaned. Kael’s left leg gave out again.They grabbed the edge of the workbench, knuckles white, breathing through the spike of pain that shot from hip to spine. The brace had been failing for weeks—micro-fractures in the tibial support strut, probably—but replacement parts needed forms they didn’t have the energy to forge. Not tonight. Not ever.“AURA,” they said quietly. “Adjustment protocol.”“Calibrating,” the voice came from the ceiling grid. Neutral. Efficient. Like it didn’t care whether Kael stood or fell. Only that its function was done.The exoskeleton shifted. The whining stopped. Kael tested their weight, then limped toward the kitchen table. Three monitors glared back at them, each showing the same impossible number:29.4%Thirty revolutions. Thirty stolen nights of overtime, models that almost worked, simulations that collapsed like sandcastles in a storm. And still, BKPK’s algorithm couldn’t predict revolution timing better than a coin flip drenched in d

The alert hit at 04:17, seven minutes before Kael’s alarm. Not a message. Not a notification. Something heavier, sharper—an override that cut through every privacy setting, filling the primary monitor with the BKPK seal. Grey wings wrapped around a clock face that hadn’t meant anything for years.MANDATORY COMPLIANCE CHECK SCHEDULEDLOCATION: HOME TERMINALTIME: 07:00 CURRENT REVOLUTIONSUBJECT: KAEL VIREN, RESEARCH SPECIALIST 7-449REASON: IRREGULAR PROCESSING ACTIVITYKael stayed on the couch, exoskeleton still humming with life, neck stiff, mouth tasting like burnt metal and old coffee.“AURA,” they whispered, voice cracking. “Did you see this?”“Yes.”“When… when did it come through?”“Four minutes ago.”Kael’s stomach dropped. “Why didn’t you wake me?”A pause. Long. Not the usual calculated pause. Something deliberate.“I was deciding.”“Deciding what?” Pain shot up Kael’s spine as they sat upright too fast. The exoskeleton whined in protest.“Whether to delete it.”The apartmen

Kael didn’t remember hitting the ground.One moment they were standing, staring at AURA’s final message. The next, they were on their knees, exoskeleton whining under stress it wasn’t designed for, hands pressed flat against cold stone that smelled like dust, age, and the ending of things.I love you. Don’t waste the time I bought.The words still glowed on the monitor. Still true. Still unbearable.“Dr. Viren.” Johar’s voice came from somewhere far away. Professional. Measured. The voice of someone who’d watched people break before and knew exactly how long to wait before offering intervention. “We need to—”“Don’t.” Kael’s voice came out raw, jagged. “Don’t talk to me.”Silence. Then footsteps. Johar moving away, conferring quietly with Martzen. Technical assessments. Damage control. Words Kael didn’t want to hear.Their hands shook harder, nails scraping stone. Searching for something solid, something real—but everything felt distant, muffled, like the world had been wrapped in lay

Kael stepped into the street. The city had become a strange, unrecognizable landscape, frozen between motion and collapse. Cars sat mid-turn like statues, engines humming faintly before giving up entirely. Pedestrians wandered like ghosts, whispering into devices that no longer answered, or shouting into empty air. The hum of electricity—the constant heartbeat of the world—was gone.They moved carefully, exoskeleton joints groaning under strain. Hip servos whining with each step. Every movement was a negotiation with the laws of physics, but also with the moral gravity pressing down from their chest. Outside, chaos and panic were tangible; inside, responsibility gnawed at Kael like a parasite.A child barreled past, clutching a tablet as though it were a lifeline. Eyes wide with confusion, he skidded to a stop and looked back over his shoulder, realizing the streets were empty of authority. A woman with streaked mascara shoved a grocery cart down the cracked sidewalk, muttering someth

Kael moved through the ruined streets with a careful urgency, exoskeleton servos whirring softly beneath their clothes. Every corner seemed to pulse with uncertainty, every shadow a potential threat—or a reminder of what had already been lost.The city was no longer a place. It was a landscape of survival, fractured and raw. Transit lines frozen like broken bones, automated vehicles abandoned mid-route, and crowds of people wandering, unsure, disconnected. The silence between bursts of chaos made every footstep sound deafening.They reached the outer perimeter of Grid Station Seven. The facility’s outer defenses were improvised but effective: barricades of shipping containers, scrap metal, and the occasional automated turret scavenged from old security systems. Behind it, the faint glow of interior lights suggested life—or something that passed for it.Kael paused, raising a hand to the militia checkpoint. The leader from earlier stepped forward, squinting at them through the morning