ALL IN

Cipher's fingers flew across the keyboard, his eyes locked onto the endless streams of data pouring onto his screen. The notification that had shattered the room's fragile silence still flickered in the corner:

SUBJECT: BLUE ROSE

STATUS: ONLINE

He had wasted no time trying to track Myst's location, but every attempt led to a dead end—encrypted barriers locking him out the second he got close.

It was as if someone was wiping her traces in real time before he could grasp it. He cursed under his breath, frustration gnawing at him.

The Clan waited, tension thick in the air.

"We should already be out there," Blaze growled, his knee bouncing impatiently. "Every second we waste—"

"We get nowhere," Cipher snapped, not looking up. "If they wanted her dead, she would be. They need her for something, and if we rush in blind, we're handing them exactly what they want."

Flux stood apart from the others, fists clenched, body rigid. His breathing was uneven, shallow. His mind was slipping, something breaking loose in the back of his skull. Myst was out there. He needed to find her. And yet—

A flicker. A distortion.

No one noticed the subtle flicker of neon violet across his fingertips. Like static glitching.

Shade did.

Cipher's screen glitched. The data streams flashed purple—flickering images of unfamiliar streets, shadows moving, feeds from the Outer Districts and Hollow Zones.

It was searching. Sifting through data beyond even Cipher's reach.

Shade's gaze snapped to Flux. He saw it—just for a second. His eyes. A brief, electric purple glow.

Cipher caught the way Shade stiffened, following his gaze—to Flux, who stood frozen, breath shallow, fingers curled inward as if gripping something unstable.

A long pause hovered between them.

Cipher's voice cut through the air, low and sharp. "What the fuck did you just do?"

Flux didn't answer.

Cipher's chair scraped against the floor as he stood. "Flux."

Silence.

Cipher's stomach twisted. The pieces clicked together. "Purple Thorn."

The Clan turned. Flux's head was lowered, but as he looked up, the electric violet glow that flickered behind his irises was unmistakable.

Blaze shot to his feet. "What the hell?"

Flux didn't move. Couldn't. His vision blurred as lines of code overlapped his reality, data whispering in his mind—coordinates, broken feeds, Myst's name flashing in waves of unfiltered information. His breath caught.

"I'll find her." The words tumbled from his lips before he could stop them.

Silence. Heavy. Unforgiving.

The reaction was instant. Razor straightened, Echo's expression twisted between confusion and concern. Cipher's gaze sharpened like a blade.

Blaze scoffed. "The hell are you talking about?"

Flux's breathing hitched. His grip tightened until his knuckles went white. Reality flickered. His mind split in two. The voice inside him—it was rising, fighting its way to the surface.

He sucked in a breath. He could still fight it. He could push it down. But then Myst—

"I was a test subject," he admitted, voice tight. "Just as she is."

Blaze stiffened. Echo looked like he had just been punched in the gut. Razor's gaze darkened.

"I don't—" Echo started but stopped himself. "You're saying you were one of them?"

Flux swallowed hard. "Yes."

Razor's voice was dangerously low. "You knew this the whole time?"

"No," Flux ground out. "I didn't remember. Not all of it."

"And now you do?"

"Because I'm not like Myst," he said quietly. "She merged with it. I didn't." His breath caught. "The AI inside me—it's separate. It's not me."

The air went still.

Razor's patience was thinning. "So you're telling me—the entire time we've been running from the Government, from the Ascended—you've had a connection to the same system they want? And you didn't even bother mentioning?"

Flux's breath was shaky. "Would you have trusted me if I told you?"

No one answered.

Because they all knew the answer.

Cipher's jaw tightened. "You said you'll find her."

Flux exhaled, the violet static flickering across his hands again. "I can try."

Shade was the one who asked the question no one else wanted to. "And if it goes wrong?"

Flux's throat tightened. His heart hammering inside his chest. He knew what he was risking.

"If it goes wrong," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Then we'll know exactly what I am."