And I see it.
The waveform.
The music.
Flatline.
It’sgone.
I exhale.
Not a sob. Not a sigh.
Just… stillness.
I press my forehead to the cold steel of the terminal.
I let myself rest.
Not long.
Just enough.
CHAPTER 38
MAUG
The IHC arrives like a storm that forgot how to thunder.
No explosions. No sirens.
Just silence—and then the sound of boots.
Heavy, sharp, rehearsed.
They spill into the station days after the song dies, too late to save anyone, too early to know what they’re walking into. The emergency response team wears full armor, visors down, weapons humming. They come with scans and suspicion, fingers twitching near triggers the moment they seeme.
They don’t speak at first.
They justaim.
A dozen red dots bloom on my chest.
I raise my hands, slow and wide.
Jillian steps between us. “Don’t.”
One of them shouts, “Step away from the creature!”
She doesn’t.
Her spine is straight as a blade. “He’s not the danger here.”
“Ma’am, we will use force?—”
“Then you’ll answer to High Command for killing the only reason any of us are still alive.”
That gives them pause.
