The air in the underground hideout was thick with tension, the weight of revelation pressing down on them all. The screen's glow had faded, but its message still burned in Kiera's mind. They rewrote me. They rewrote all of us.
No one spoke for a long moment. The woman—one of the Architects' own creations, just like Kiera—stood still, waiting. Watching.
Rhys broke the silence first. "If they have backups of everyone, that means they can rewrite us again. Even if we break in."
"They could," the woman admitted. "But only if they have access to the original data."
Kiera turned back to the screen. "You're saying that if we destroy the core system, the backups go with it?"
"Yes." The woman's voice was steady, but there was something beneath it—something almost haunted. "But it's not as simple as wiping a hard drive. The system is built with redundancies, failsafes. If it detects an attack, it can trigger emergency protocols. It could overwrite every stored mind before we even get close."
"Then we don't just take it down," Aerin said, arms folded. "We take control."
Marek gave a sharp exhale. "You're talking about hijacking the central mind-control system of the entire city."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Aerin's expression didn't waver. "We use their own system against them. If we access the core, we could undo everything—restore the memories they erased, bring back the people they've rewritten." Their gaze flicked to Kiera. "Including you."
Kiera's chest tightened. Her past wasn't lost. It was locked away. If they could get to it…
Her hands clenched. "Then we don't wait. We go in, get to the access point, and take control before they realize what's happening."
The woman studied her carefully. "You'll need rest first. If you go in exhausted, you won't make it out."
Kiera hesitated, but Rhys put a hand on her shoulder. "She's right. If we're doing this, we need to be sharp."
Marek sighed. "Fine. We rest. But only for a few hours."
Aerin rolled their eyes. "Because that'll definitely be enough to prepare us for infiltrating the most secure facility in the city."
"It's what we've got," Kiera said, forcing her voice to steady. "And we'll make it work."
The woman nodded and turned back to the console, shutting it down. "There are rooms down the hall. Sleep while you can. I'll finish preparing."
Kiera wanted to argue—her mind was still racing, still caught in the enormity of what they had uncovered—but she knew the woman was right. She had been running on adrenaline for too long. If she went into this mission half-dead from exhaustion, she would only get herself killed.
And this wasn't just about her anymore.
It was about everyone the Architects had taken.
Everyone they had rewritten.