The chamber was heavy with silence — thick like the smoke after a wildfire. The shattered neon shards of the NeuroNet monolith lay scattered across the floor, flickering weakly like dying stars.
Aeris sank to her knees, palms pressed against the cold steel, chest heaving as the adrenaline finally faded. Her fingers trembled, traces of electric burns lingering where the data drive had interfaced with the AI.
Kael crouched beside her, his breath slow but steady, eyes dark and unreadable in the dim light. His hand hovered for a moment before settling gently over hers — a silent anchor in the vast emptiness.
Above them, the room's lights flickered once, then steadied, bathing them in a soft, golden glow — like the first light of dawn after a storm.
Lira's voice broke through the quiet, softer now but laced with urgency. "The network is offline. NeuroNet's control has been severed — but the city's still fragile. Without it… chaos could erupt."
Aeris nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. "It's a risk we have to take. The people deserve to be free — not puppets."
Kael's gaze locked with hers — fierce, unwavering. "We'll protect what's left. Together."
For a moment, the weight of everything they'd fought for hung between them — a fragile thread stretched tight over the abyss.
Then Aeris's eyes caught a flicker in the corner — a holo-projection, distorted but unmistakable. A face she hadn't seen in years. A warning.
"Not everyone wants freedom," she murmured, voice barely steady.
Kael's jaw tightened. "Then the fight's not over."
Outside, the city stirred — neon lights flickering back to life, holograms projecting new messages of hope and warning.
The battle had been won.
But the war?
Far from over.