The room tilted, a sickening lurch that felt less like a collapse and more like a tectonic shift in reality itself. Mura grabbed the obsidian pedestal, her fingers digging into the cold, sharp edges of the console as a wave of violet Static washed over the room, erasing the holographic display for a heartbeat before it sputtered back to life."Jax, focus!" Mura snapped, her voice cracking under the pressure of the flickering lights. "The sequence is looping. If I don't force the jump, we’re going to be trapped in the buffer forever. Do you hear me?"Jax leaned his head back against the stone, his eyes glassy, tracing the erratic dance of light on the ceiling. He laughed, a dry, hollow sound that seemed to drain the last of his energy. "I hear it, Mura. It’s not a loop anymore. It’s a funeral march. You realize what happens when you cut the feed, don't you? It’s not just the city that stops. It’s the backup.""We aren't the backup, Jax. We’re the originals," Mura insisted, though her h

"You already lost me in Sector 4, Mura. You’re just finally admitting it now because the lights are going out."Mura’s hands froze over the glowing, erratic input board. She didn't look at him. She couldn't. If she saw the way his skin was fraying into strings of white noise, she would stop moving, and if she stopped moving, the city would finish them both."I didn't lose you," Mura whispered, her voice tight, a jagged blade of a sound. "I anchored you. I held you together when the ground went liquid. I am not letting go now. Not when we’re inches away from the reset."Jax shifted, a movement that caused a localized ripple in the air, a distortion that smelled like ozone and burnt plastic. "Mura, look at me.""I am busy, Jax.""Look at me." His voice had lost its usual jagged humor. It was steady, anchored by a strange, final peace.Mura turned. The sight hit her like a physical blow. Jax was fading. The architecture of the chamber was bleeding into his chest, the geometry of the room