NXY-0

CHAPTER 9

Nobody spoke for a long time.

The blue light had faded completely, leaving us in near darkness. My optical implants adjusted, giving me a faint green-tinted view of the chamber. Rourke and Sena had lit small lamps, casting weak orange light across the ancient metal structure.

I stared at my palm.

2 YEARS, 33 DAYS, 12 HOURS.

A lie. My whole life was a lie. Every fear. Every desperate moment of survival. Every time I'd watched the numbers tick down and felt that cold dread in my chest. None of it was real.

The District had done this. They had built the timers, given them to everyone, and let us believe we were dying. They controlled us through fear. Through desperation. Through the constant threat of death.

I felt my mechanical hand clench into a fist.

"Nova." Dr. REN-9's voice was quiet. Careful. "We should move. That thing could wake up again."

"It's not waking up," I said. "It was talking. To me."

"I know. That's what concerns me."

Nyx-0 moved closer, its wolf form solid and watchful. "She's right. We need to leave. That thing is old and unstable. I don't trust it."

I looked at the wolf. "It said it was the last memory of the First Humans."

"It's lying."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm the last memory of the First Humans. Not that thing."

I stared at Nyx-0. "What?"

"It's a fragment. A piece of the Celestial Forge. But I'm the memory. I carry the knowledge. The truth. Everything."

The blue light pulsed once more, faint and weak. Then it went dark completely. The structure seemed to settle, sinking deeper into the ground.

"Whatever it was," Dr. REN-9 said, "it's gone now."

I looked at the ancient metal. At the symbols carved into its surface. At the thing that had spoken to me.

"How do I find out if it's true?" I asked. "About the timers."

"Find someone whose timer has run out," Nyx-0 said.

"What?"

"If the timers are a lie, then the District must be faking the deaths. People whose timers hit zero are supposedly recycled. But if the timers are fake, they're not dying. They're being taken somewhere."

I processed that. "I need proof."

"Exactly."

Rourke cleared his throat. "We have a contact. Someone who worked for the District. She might know something."

"Where is she?"

"The Red Bazaar. She runs an information trade there."

"The Red Bazaar is dangerous," Dr. REN-9 said. "It's full of criminals, scavengers, and District spies."

"I don't care. I need to know."

She studied me for a long moment. "I'll take you. But we need to move quickly. The District will be searching this area."

I looked at the ancient structure one last time.

"How do you feel?" I asked Nyx-0.

"Weird. That thing was connected to me. Somehow. I don't like it."

"It felt like it was trying to tell me something."

"It was trying to manipulate you. The Celestial Forge was powerful, but it was also dangerous. That's why it was destroyed."

"By the District?"

"By the First Humans. They realized what they'd created. They tried to stop it. They failed."

I felt something heavy settle in my chest. The weight of history. The weight of truth.

"We need to find that contact," I said.

Dr. REN-9 nodded. "Follow me."

---

We climbed back through the tunnels, moving fast. The air grew warmer as we ascended, and I could smell rust and dust again. The surface.

When we emerged, the Bone Yard was covered in darkness. The sky was a deep gray, dotted with faint stars. In the distance, I could see the faint glow of the Spire. The District's heart.

"We should travel at night," Dr. REN-9 said. "Safer. Fewer patrols."

"How far to the Red Bazaar?"

"Two days. Maybe three."

"I can make it."

She looked at my arm. "Your repairs are holding?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's move."

We walked through the darkness, our footsteps crunching against rusted metal. Nyx-0 stayed close, its wolf form silent and watchful.

"You're processing a lot," Nyx-0 said quietly.

"You think?"

"Your sarcasm is improving. I'm proud."

I almost smiled. Almost.

"What happens when I find the truth?" I asked. "When I prove the timers are a lie?"

"Chaos. People will be angry. They'll fight. The District will try to stop them."

"And Nexus?"

"What about him?"

"He was close to finding this out. That's why they took him."

"Yes."

I felt something burn in my chest. Not my ribs. Something deeper.

"They killed him for it. They erased him."

"Yes."

"I'm going to make them pay."

Nyx-0 was silent for a long moment.

"I know," it said.

We walked in silence.

---

We reached a small structure, half-buried in the rust. Dr. REN-9 pressed a panel and a door slid open.

"Rest here," she said. "We'll move again at dawn."

I lay down on the cold metal floor. My body ached. My mind was spinning.

The timers are a lie.

Everything I believed was a lie.

I looked at my wrist. At Nexus's watch.

I couldn't remember his face. But I could remember his voice.

"One day," I whispered. "I'm going to remember everything."

The watch glinted faintly in the darkness.

Nyx-0 lay beside me, its burning-star eyes closed.

"One day," it echoed.