Chapter 2

Chloe showed no concern for the agony twisting my face. She just looked at Liam. I remembered a picnic, years ago in this simulated world, under a perfect blue sky. Chloe had laughed, her head in my lap, telling me I was her anchor, her safe harbor. She'd said she was so lucky the accident hadn't taken her memories of me. Liar.

Liam put a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "Don't worry, Chloe. He'll be fine once it's yours." A brief, almost sympathetic glance at me, quickly dismissed.

Chloe brushed his hand away. "It's for us, Liam. For our future." She didn't care about my pain. I was just an obstacle, a resource to be used up.

Liam leaned down, his voice a venomous whisper in my ear. "You know, Alex, every time you got those headaches? That was her, not loving you. And I enjoyed knowing that."

My stomach churned. He' d known. He' d watched me suffer.

Chloe stepped forward, taking Liam' s hand. "We're going to be so happy, Liam." She kissed him, a deep, passionate kiss, right there in front of me, while I lay broken and betrayed. I remembered telling her about my deepest fear, being alone, abandoned. She' d held me, promised she' d never leave. She used that, my deepest vulnerability, to make me believe her act of needing constant care.

"System," I gasped, the word torn from my throat. "I agree to the transfer. Get me out." My resolve hardened. There was nothing left here for me but pain and lies.

A calm, synthesized voice filled the air, the Core Protocol. "Prime Beneficiary status transfer initiated. Alex Miller, do you wish to reconsider? This action is irreversible."

I looked at Chloe and Liam, wrapped in their triumphant embrace. "No," I said, the word flat, devoid of the emotion that had once defined me. "I'm sure."

Chloe and Liam pulled apart, impatient. "How long will this take?" Chloe demanded.

"The transfer of Prime Beneficiary status to Chloe Vance and Liam Carter is confirmed," the Protocol announced. "They are now the designated hosts. The bond requirements are now active for them."

I remembered Chloe' s words, whispered late one night: "I'll always be loyal to you, Alex. Always." Another lie. The System would ensure her loyalty now, but not to me.

The Protocol spoke again, only to me this time, a private channel. "The full transfer will take several days to stabilize. Your physical injuries from the recent trauma will be temporarily healed. You may use this time to prepare for your exit from the Continuum."