Chapter 4: Nikk and Tia’s Connection

Tia's body was weightless in Nikk's arms, but the burden she carried was heavier than anything he had ever known.

They were still running. The roar of engines, the crackle of gunfire, the cold voice of Novacore's security announcing their pursuit - it all blurred into white noise. His world had shrunk down to the girl in his grasp, her fragile body shuddering against him as they sped through the darkened underbelly of the city.

They had barely made it out. Ray had driven like a demon, cutting through back alleys and slipping into underground tunnels as drones swarmed above. The others had to split up to throw off the pursuit, rendezvousing at one of the safehouses buried beneath the Lower Districts.

Now, in the dim light of the hideout - crumbling old train station long abandoned by the city - Nikk crouched beside her.

She lay on a makeshift cot, wrapped in worn-out thermal blanket, The others hovered nearby, their gazes town between suspicion and disbelief. No one spoke.

Because none of them could ignore the impossible truth.

Tia felt.

She stirred, her breath hitching. Her fingers twitched against the fabric, clenching as if holding onto something that wasn't there.

Then slowly, her eyes fluttered open.

Nikk had seen plenty of eyes in his lifetime - cold, empty, erased and devoid of meaning. But hers were alive. Terrified. Confused.

She was Human.

Tia inhaled sharply, scrambled backward. "Wh—where am I?" her voice was hoarse, fragile. Nikk held her up in his hands. "You're safe." The words felt strange in his mouth - because in Novacore, safe didn't exist. "We got you out of that facility."

She shook her head, pressing her hands against her temples. "I don't remember—" She squeezed her eyes shut. "I shouldn't be here."

Bria knelt beside her. "Easy. Just breathe/"

Tia opened her eyes, staring at them like they were ghosts.

"You…" Her voice trembled. "You don't feel, do you?"

A silence settled over the room.

She could tell.

The rest of them acted like they had emotions. They smirked, they cursed, they fought - but it was all muscle memory. A learned performance. They had lived in Novacore too long, been altered too much.

But she was different.

Tia could still feel.

Nikk didn't know what to say. No one did. It was Ace who finally broke the silence.

"We need answers." He crossed his arms, his usual smirk absent. "You were locked away in a government facility. Why? How are you not like the rest of us?"

Tia flinched as if the words were physical blows. "I-I don't know." Her hands fisted in the blanket. "I woke up there. I don't remember how I got in. I don't even know who I am."

Pryce leaned against the wall, watching her carefully. "Project Zero erased all emotions decades ago. You shouldn't be able to feel anything."

"I know that," Tia snapped, frustration flickering across her face. "I shouldn't exist."

The room grew heavy with the weight of her words.

Nikk studied her. She was a paradox, an anomaly. In a world where anomalies weren't allowed.

And she was dangerous.

Because if Novacore wanted her erased that badly, it meant she was a threat to everything they had built.

Hid mind spun through the implications. If she could feel, did that mean she could make others feel? Was she immune to whatever wiped the rest of them? Was she born this way, or had something gone wrong?

One thing was clear.

They had stolen more than just data that night.

They had stolen the government's greatest secret.

Kaya's voice cut through the thick silence. "We should get rid of her."

Tia flinched.

Bria shot a glare at Kaya. "Are you serious?"

"She's a liability," Kaya said, crossing her arms. "Novacore is hunting for her. And now, they're hunting us."

"I never said we hand her over," Kaya snapped. "But we can't keep her. She'll get us all killed."

A tense silence stretched between them. Tia curled in on herself, as if she was trying to disappear.

Nikk exhaled dragging a hand through his hair. He hated this.

She was a person, not a problem to be solved.

"We're not throwing her out," he said finally, his voice low but firm.

Kaya narrowed her eyes. "And what's your plan, then? Keep her here forever?"

"I don't know," Nikk admitted. "But we're not abandoning her."

Tia's gaze snapped to his. Something flickered behind her eyes - something he couldn't name. But stirred something dangerous inside him .

A feeling.

A real feeling.

he tore his gaze away. "She stays."

Kaya scoffed, but didn't argue. The others exchanged wary glances, but no one objected.

Tia's fingers tightened around the blanket. "Why?" she whispered. "Why help me?"

Nikk hesitated. His voice stuck in his throat.

The real answer was one he wasn't ready to face.

Instead, he said, "Because you don't deserve to be erased."

Her lips parted slightly, eyes shining in a way he had never seen before.

And for the first time in his life, Nikk felt the weight of his own heartbeat.

Because something had changed.

She had changed him.

And he didn't know if that was a miracle.

Or a curse.