Chapter 110

Rhea's blood ran cold.

She remembered Elias's voice now, faint but sharp, in the dark metal chamber of her past: "When the child is born of code and flesh, the gate opens. And the Architects return."

Kaia whimpered. Her fingers flashed in strange patterns again—finger-coding from Eden's database.

Not random.

Responding.

"They're trying to talk to her," Rhea realized. "Not just watch her—connect with her. Through Lex."

Lex nodded, eyes unfocused. "She's the bridge. The piece they missed. That's why Nine didn't fight Kaia—she wanted her."

Rhea stood, her voice trembling but firm. "We have to sever the connection. All of it. The mirror, the implants, the Eden residue inside you."

"But how?" Lex asked, suddenly terrified. "They're inside me. Inside her. And you too."

Rhea stared at him. Her reflection shimmered faintly in the cracked glass. For just a moment, her own face flickered—just slightly.

Behind her eyes, something old stirred.

She'd been Muri once.

She remembered everything now.

And she knew that to destroy Eden's ghosts… she might have to become Muri again.

Even if it meant letting go of Rhea.

Even if it meant walking into the same nightmare she barely survived the first time