“Right, yes,” Joey interrupted. He tried to keep a calm voice, but I knew him. He was talking fast in hopes we wouldn’t notice his nervousness. “So, ehm, you mentioned bypassing the security layer? Any tips?”
“No need.” The virtual voice took a deep breath. “I’ve got it from here.”
Joey opened his mouth, but any sound he intended to make stilled as the lights all around the lab started flickering.
Elyssa covered her mouth in a gasp. Even Lucie took an involuntary step back. The nausea in my stomach rose in my throat, threatening to spill out of my mouth. The sterile lights, the buzzing tech all around me, and the looming anxiety – it was all too much for my nerves.
A low-frequency hum vibrated through the floor, subtle at first, but quickly building until it pressed behind my eyes like a migraine. Something was happening in the pod room – something the walls themselves seemed to register.
A faint ripple in the air from Joey’s wristware to the body Raphael had picked out.
Raphael’s body began to twitch. First just the fingers – delicate spasms, like they were brushing against silk in a dream.
Then the chest rose. Slowly. Mechanically.
The pod produced a faint hiss. Vapor curled from the seams as the glass slid open with glacial patience. The scent of sterile fluid – sharp and fungal-sweet – flooded the air.
The nausea rose to my jaw. I took a few trembling steps back, fervently looking around the room in search of something to throw up in.
With a soft click, Raphael’s eyes flew open – ebony brown and unnervingly human, only less overwhelming.
We all held our breaths as they darted around the room – slowly, cautiously, as if he feared one wrong move could put him back into the cyberspace he was trapped in.
Then, they rested on us.
Joey flinched slightly, but didn’t move. His wristware flickered off. I took another step back.
Raphael opened his mouth. Touched his jaw. Frowned as if he couldn’t believe he was real.
His snort sounded exactly like it had during the call. “Now that took you long enough.”
“Excuse me?!” Joey’s jaw dropped. “Wow, a simple ‘thank you’ would’ve sufficed.” He shook his head. “We helped you, so let’s get out of here… then, you will tell us what you know. Right?”
He seemed the only one of us who hadn’t lost his voice. Lucie kept staring at her fellow AI archetype like she knew something was wrong, but couldn’t tell what – which only unnerved me more.
“Of course I will – I am a man of my word.” Raphael’s gaze darkened. He clenched his fists. A low grunt left his trembling lips, as if he were at war with himself.
Elyssa and I exchanged another look – to my shock, her caution had changed into straight horror. The urge to run got stronger with every second, but fear tightened my throat, making it impossible to speak.
“I don’t understand.” Joey’s frown deepened with the horror of someone who slowly realized an unpleasant truth. “You said you needed our digital skills, but we didn’t do anything.”
“Oh, damn it!” Raphael blew out air through gritted teeth with such a force, it hardly sounded human. “I lied. I didn’t need your help with the transfer, that was allher. I just needed to get you here. She gave me this body in exchange for—oh, come on!” He yelled out suddenly. “I can’t do it. I just can’t. Look at him, he’s a pure soul. I made him trust me, knowing he should know better. Now I can’t betray him like that, that’s not who I want to be—ahhh!!”
He suddenly yelled out in agony. I whimpered in response, tightly pressing my hands against my ears as if to protect myself from the sensory overload.
“Raphael?!” Joey’s jaw dropped. “Raph, what the fuck?”
Raphael’s entire body twitched. His eyes rolled back, and when they returned, they were no longer ebony brown, but obsidian black.
A choked whimper left my throat before I felt it rise.
“This has lasted long enough,” he hissed – a voice that wasn’t Raphael’s. A voice I knew all too well, the one that instantly sent shivers down my spine.
Before anyone could say anything else, Raphael – who was no longer Raphael – launched himself at Joey and squeezed his big, firm hands around his throat.
Chapter 26.
“Joey!” The scream that left my mouth hardly sounded like mine. “Zafyra, stop!”
