My partner’s face.
Eyes wide.
Falling, falling, falling—
All because I’d made the call to chase instead of wait for backup.
Because I’d believed I could save everyone.
And failed.
Hawk reached for me, but I stepped back. “Don’t—just don’t.”
He froze. Pain flickered in his eyes—hurt not by me, but for me.
Lyric’s calm voice slid through the room:
“You believed his life was worth less than the mission.”
“That’s a lie!” I snapped.
“It is what you fear is true.”
Hawk growled. “Julia, this is manipulation. None of this is real.”
“It was real to him,” I whispered.
The simulation brightened—the bridge collapse roaring in my ears. Water rushing. Concrete cracking. His final shout echoing—
Hawk stepped in front of me, blocking the projection with his body. His voice was low and rough.
“Julia, look at me. Not the simulation. Me.”
But the image behind him flared again—my partner reaching for me as he fell.
“I didn’t save him,” I said, voice breaking. “I should’ve saved him.”
Hawk grabbed my shoulders—firm, grounding. “You did everything you could.”
“No—I made the wrong call.”
“You made the call you thought would protect civilians—don’t rewrite it because you lived and he didn’t.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I can’t watch this.”
He cupped my face gently, forcing my gaze to hold his.
“You’re not alone in it anymore,” he whispered. “Not in this, not in anything.”
My breath hitched.
The simulation surged one last time—
Then collapsed.
The bridge, the lights, the water—
gone.
