POV: Cole/Nico (Shared Stream)
There was no silence in Nico's mind anymore. Not truly. Not since the reset.
Cole's presence wasn't like a voice—it was like pressure. A constant hum beneath the surface of Nico's thoughts, a weight behind every instinct. At first, it had felt like an echo. Now it felt like sharing a skull with a stranger.
And the worst part?
Cole wasn't staying silent anymore.
"This isn't your world, Cole," Nico snapped, his hands trembling as he adjusted the patchy relay node on the rooftop of a broken residential block in Zone 4. Below, the slums of New Lyra stretched out in all directions, buzzing with heat and static from broken generators. "You don't get to tell me how to survive here."
Cole's thoughts—if they could still be called that—pressed gently against Nico's.
You know I'm not trying to control you.
Nico flinched. He hated when it sounded reasonable.
I didn't ask for this, Cole continued, almost... tired. Something went wrong in the cradle. This wasn't supposed to happen.
"You think I wanted this either?" Nico muttered. "You invaded my head. I was done with leasing. I was clean."
And now we're both trapped.
Shared Memories
It wasn't just voices.
It was visions.
Cole's memories kept bleeding into Nico's dreams—gala dinners, towering penthouse views, digital interviews. The scent of synthetic silk. The sound of manufactured applause.
Nico had started seeing himself in mirrors—only it wasn't him. It was Cole's face. Cole's eyes.
And Cole had begun feeling Nico's grief—the trembling shame of lease withdrawal, the bone-deep guilt of waking up in someone else's life, someone else's pain.
Their minds were stitching together, one fracture at a time.
The Hideout
Back in the safehouse, Lira watched Nico pace, his thoughts half-formed, distracted. She frowned.
"You're not sleeping," she said. "You look like hell."
"I'm sharing brainspace with a CEO who drinks empathy like champagne," he snapped.
She arched a brow. "Still convinced you're not losing it?"
He hesitated.
Cole's voice piped up inside, Tell her the truth.
"Shut up," Nico muttered.
Lira's gaze sharpened. "You're talking to him again, aren't you?"
"I don't know what this is," he admitted. "He's not fading. He's growing stronger."
"Can you extract him?"
"No. And I'm not sure we should."
That surprised her.
"He knows things, Lira. Internal NeuroLease architecture. Command backdoors. He's like a living breach."
"And how long until he breaches you?"
Cole's voice was quieter this time, almost guilty: She's not wrong.
Echo Root's Plan
They gathered in the basement that night—seven members of Echo Root, all eyes turned to Nico.
They'd heard what happened. Knew what he was carrying. Half wanted to gut the system with Cole's knowledge. The other half wanted to gut Nico, just to be safe.
Lira stood by him. "We need him. We use this, we break NeuroLease from the inside."
"But what if he flips?" someone asked. "What if Cole takes control?"
"I don't want control," Cole said through Nico's mouth.
The room went dead silent.
It wasn't an impression or a relay. It was a full possession—just for a moment. But long enough.
Nico grabbed his head, coughing. "Don't do that again."
Cole withdrew.
Lira stared. "We have less time than I thought."
Fractures
Later, alone, Nico sat by the cracked window, watching the artificial auroras drift over New Lyra's upper levels.
Why aren't you fighting me harder? Cole asked.
"I tried," Nico said. "I think we're past that."
You could still wipe me. You know the tech.
"Yeah," he said softly. "But then I'd lose what you are."
Cole was quiet.
You think I'm worth saving?
"I think… you might be the only way this system ends."
And if I become you?
Nico looked at the reflection in the broken glass. It was neither of them. Both of them.
"Then maybe that's what we deserve."
A Signal from the Inside
As they prepped the next strike on NeuroLease, a coded message arrived through a dark channel.
A warning.
From Dr. Elira Marell.
Cole recognized the ID immediately.
"She knows," he said.
Nico translated. "She was watching. Maybe even helping."
The message was simple:
"Six hours before full retrieval order. After that, they fry both of you."
Lira's jaw clenched. "They're afraid."
Nico nodded. "And they should be."