Ashes

Chapter 2 – "Ash Protocol"

Part 4 – "Ash Protocol"

They stood in the humming tunnel, the stale scent of ash and hidden spores wrapping around their bodies like gauze. Inside the hidden courtyard, the glow of bioluminescent moss painted their shadows on cracked walls.

Kael tucked the datachip under his coat, chest tight with adrenaline and dread. Signal drones had carpeted the Sprawl; every corner they passed was marked. Marion's hooded mask glinted in the soft light.

"The datachip holds coordinates," Marion said softly, voice muffled by their porcelain façade. "To an internal vault: the Ash Vault Core. It's where we can evaluate bond stabilizers."

Kael's heart hammered. "You mean—there's a way to fix this?" He gestured at the glyph on his neck under his collar. It pulsed once, like an answering heartbeat.

Vireya placed a gentle hand on his arm. "A chance. But it carries risk."

Marion stepped forward. "We go in, test a formula of diluted Primeclade serum combined with ash-core catalysts. It might dampen the bond… or it might sever it completely."

"That's suicide," Kael whispered.

Marion inclined their masked face. "Or rebirth."

Dax, lurking in the recesses, led them down a narrow, spiraling stairwell lit by fading phosphor panels. The air grew heavier as they descended. Vein-roots overhead pulsed at intervals, whispering ancient code that crackled in Kael's mind.

At the fourth level, they entered a circular chamber. Six massive vault-portals loomed like gargantuan wombs. In the center, a slab of vitrified glass lay atop a platform etched with blood-code sigils.

"This is the Nexus Floor," Marion explained. "Each vault stores experimental Primeclade relics—bloodfragments, ritual artifacts… and the Ash Core."

They approached a circular dais with a glowing dais-pad. Marion placed the datachip upon it. The pad lit, lines of circuitry rippling outward.

A vault-door slid open with a hiss of displaced air. Inside, a softly glowing orb—dark metal pulsing with red energy, etched in ancient glyphs.

"The Ash Core," Vireya said. Her voice trembled despite her composure. "Created to stabilize or disrupt bonds. Extremely volatile."

Kael crouched, peering through the vault's shimmer-barrier. The orb's tendrils of light reached toward the glass like hungry fingers.

Marion handed Kael a vial of swirling crimson liquid mixed with gray ash.

"This is a diluted Primeclade catalyst. Combined with the Core, it can anchor the bond—make the glyph stable instead of mutative."

Kael took it, the weight of it burning his hand. "And if it fails?"

Marion's voice was calm. "Then the glyph will either self-eradicate—killing you—or implode into a toxic cascade, taking her with it."

Kael stared at the orb, then Vireya.

Vireya closed her eyes. "If you do this… I'll feel everything. I don't know if I can keep you safe."

He met her gaze, a storm inside him. "I don't know if I can stay human otherwise."

They set to work.

Marion cracked a brand-panel lid. Inside lay condenser rods and nano-infusers. They placed the orb in a magnetic cradle and paused, finalizing safeguards. Dax translated sub-vocal cues: "Shields on… spike suppression at thirty percent… initiating bond reading…"

Kael felt static crawl through his mind. He pressed the vial to his lips and drank. The liquid slid cold, oily, metallic. He sucked a breath.

Hot.

Then ash-cold.

He stumbled and Vireya caught him. Marion helped him to a reclining chair near the Core.

"Scanning bond coherence…" Marion murmured. "…ebi…"

The orb pulsed. Energy shifted through the dais. The glyph on Kael's skin flared bright under his shirt. Vireya grabbed his hand. Her grip was both comfort and warning.

Kael squeezed back.

Time slowed.

The orb's pulses synchronized with his heartbeat. A hum filled the chamber. Dust spiraled in the air—each mote glowing briefly.

Everything blinked.

Kael heard a voice—a whisper that wasn't his. "Bind. Sever. Replicate. Sever."

He shook his head. "No…"

Then pain exploded.

Not physical. Psychic.

He saw Vireya's coronation—the burning cathedral, the scream of betrayal, the cold steel at her breast. He was there. He felt it: agony, rage… a lifetime—no, centuries—collapsed into seconds.

His flesh screamed. He grabbed Vireya's hand harder.

She leaned into the event-horizon of his connection.

They shared the trauma.

They gasped and shut their eyes.

The orb's glow dimmed.

Marion hissed. "Back—pull back now!"

Dax yanked them clear as the Core's power flickered violently. Surge-waves rocked the chamber. Shields sparked. One shard of glass cracked.

Kael fell to his knees. Blood leaked from his nose and ears. Vireya dropped to the floor, her body twitching, glyph pulsing irregularly.

"Stabilizing…," Marion murmured. "Bond coherence… at twenty percent. We stopped the meltdown."

Kael coughed. Pain carved his voice. "What—what did it do?"

Marion gestured to the vial in Kael's hand. Its contents were half gone—diluted. "It anchored—slowed the mutation. But… the process is incomplete. Your glyph is now half-stable… half-volatile."

Vireya lay on the floor, breathing fast. Kael crawled to her, cradling her head.

"My choices are crashing us both," he whispered.

She reached up, hand trembling. "If I let the bond… it will kill me, too."

He stared at her.

"You don't have to offer to kill me," she said, voice fierce. "I'd make the same choice."

He rubbed her cheek. "I don't know who I'll be if I walk away from the glyph."

Vireya pressed against his palm. "I do."

They pulled her up.

Marion examined the Core console. "I have partial readings: your bond is now fixed at sixty-three percent coherence. Sufficient to remain fused. But the glyph will continue to evolve—it has room."

Kael exhaled. "So what do we do now?"

Marion replaced the Core into its vault. "We retrieve the formula. Dax has a window to extract this data—and route you into my network. Then we decide: complete the bond, or sever it entirely."

Kael leaned on the dais.

His shirt stuck to his skin. Vireya still leaned on him, head against his chest. He felt her heartbeat. His.

"You're here," he said simply.

Vireya sighed. "I want to feel the rest less."

"No, you don't." He turned.

She stared back, pain and bond running through her as copper wire through blood.

Marion removed a compact drive and slid it into their pocket. "Your path ahead will be lit. I'll extract the formula remotely. But the actual rewrite has to be performed outside Citadel surveillance."

Kael nodded. "We'll need a clean site."

He looked at Vireya.

She whispered, "Whatever comes, don't bleed tonight."

He nodded.

"We can leave," Marion said.

They left the Nexus, descending again into silent tunnels.

Dust fell around them—like ash from extinct stars.

Kael carried Vireya's weight on his side, steady. Bond or no, he would hold her.

Dax lit the way.

Marion's overhead lighting hummed in time with Kael's heartbeat.

The door closed behind them.

They carried the stopped heart of the bond.

Now they had a choice.