It felt like I hadn't breathed in days.
But tonight, in Nico's arms again, I finally could.
The warmth of his chest against my cheek, the way his fingers traced slow circles on my shoulder, it was almost enough to make me forget the ache I carried these past few days. Almost. But not quite.
We hadn't spoken about any of it yet, not about Kayla, or the act, or the cold silence we wrapped around ourselves like armor. But now, wrapped in the quiet of our room, there was no more running. Not from him. Not from myself.
"Nico…" My voice broke softly between us. "I need to tell you everything."
He didn't say a word. Didn't move. But the way his hand stilled against my skin told me he was listening.
"It happened that afternoon. I was supposed to go to the library. But I took a detour… I don't even know why I did. Just a hallway I never really walked through before."
I swallowed, my eyes fixed on the ceiling, pretending I didn't feel the weight pressing in my chest.
"That's when I saw Elias. He was with Kayla. I didn't think much of it at first. Until I saw it, that smirk on her face, and the pass Elias gave her. A lab access card."
I felt Nico's breath hitch beneath me.
"I knew it then. Something was coming. So when a freshman came running up to me later, saying you were asking for me… I already knew."
My fingers curled into the sheets as I confessed what I hadn't even dared to write down.
"I knew it was bait. I knew it was a setup. And I still went."
I felt Nico shift slightly, just enough to look at me, his eyes searching mine.
"You saw her come to me," he said quietly. "And you still let it happen?"
I nodded. "Because if I stopped it… if I even flinched, they'd know. They'd see through us. I had to make it real. I had to make them believe they broke us."
I blinked hard, forcing back the tears. "I let you think I was hurt by it. And I was. But not because of her. I was hurting because I couldn't protect you without breaking you in the process."
His hands came up to cup my face. Gentle. Steady. "You didn't hurt me," he whispered. "You saved me."
And just like that, I broke.
The tears came fast. Hot. Silent.
I buried myself into his chest, gripping him like I'd die if I let go. "I missed you so much, Nico…"
His arms locked around me, grounding me in that space we carved for each other alone. "I was going crazy without you."
I nodded against him, my voice muffled. "I hated pretending. I hated pushing you away. But if Kayla thinks she's won, if Elias believes we're fractured, then maybe… maybe we'll finally know what they're after."
Nico pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "Whatever comes next… we'll face it together."
And in that still moment, under the shadows of everything we couldn't yet control, I let myself fall into the quiet. Into him. Into us.
Because for the first time in days, I wasn't alone in the weight I carried.
He was holding it with me.
Nico didn't let go of me right away. He held me close, like he was afraid I'd vanish if he blinked. And maybe I would've, if he didn't hold me the way he did. But once my breathing calmed and the tremble in my fingers finally eased, he shifted a little, enough to see my face, to ask what had clearly been weighing on him.
"Nyx… why is Elias even part of this?" His voice was low but firm. "What does he want with us?"
I knew the question was coming. I just hated the answer.
I nodded slowly, wiping the edge of my cheek with my sleeve before sitting up a bit against the headboard, facing him properly.
"He's not just part of it, Nico," I whispered. "He's behind it. Or at least, he's feeding it."
I watched his eyes narrow slightly.
"I saw him," I continued. "That afternoon. It wasn't just a casual conversation between him and Kayla. He gave her the access card. I saw it with my own eyes. Like it was rehearsed. He knew exactly what he was doing."
Nico's jaw tightened.
"And then during the interschool event… he brought her. With him. To a campus event, in the open, in front of other board members. Everyone just assumed she was his mistress, no one questioned it. Because it's Elias. He walks like the rules don't apply."
I scoffed bitterly, then added, "But what caught me wasn't the flaunting. It was the way he moved. He wasn't there to judge or enjoy the show. He was looking for something. I saw him scan the prototypes like he was starving. And then…"
I paused, remembering how sharply his eyes had locked onto my blueprint.
"…he found mine. The watered-down version. The one I submitted after the original got rejected."
"The AI with emotional adaptability," Nico murmured.
I nodded. "Yes. He asked me questions. Pressed, even. But I acted dumb, pretended I didn't believe it would ever work. That it was all theory and hope. I couldn't let anything slip."
Then I looked at Nico carefully. "He's desperate. I don't know why yet. But whatever it is… it's tied to that concept, autonomy. Emotion."
Nico sat still for a long moment. I watched him, the way his eyes flicked downward, unfocused, like gears were locking into place inside his mind.
Then softly, like he didn't want to believe it, he muttered, "David."
I tilted my head. "What about him?"
"That night… the trespassing incident. When he entered the prototype chamber. I thought he was just being reckless. But what if he was reporting back to Kayla? If she told Elias, then----"
"Elias knows," I breathed. "He knows your father built something more. Something far beyond what we've shown the public."
Nico's silence stretched again, but this time… it felt heavier.
Then he looked at me, no, through me, and said, almost like he was putting it together for the first time out loud, "It's not just that my father built something more."
His voice lowered, filled with that quiet urgency I'd come to recognize, the one he only used when the truth was too big to take lightly.
"That prototype… the one my father was working on before he died, it doesn't just exist beyond the public's knowledge. It was finished using your blueprint, Nyx."
My breath caught.
Nico nodded slowly. "The core of that system. The autonomy, the adaptive layers, the seed of emotion and learning, it's you. Your work. If Elias is after it… then he's not just chasing some outdated prototype. He's chasing a whole new being."
I felt my chest tighten again, but for a different reason now.
"He's after her, the finished humanoid robot." I said it barely above a whisper.
Nico leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine, his voice like steel under silk. "And that changes everything. This isn't just sabotage or obsession anymore. If he's trying to take the prototype or what you've made, we're not just protecting a project, Nyx."
He paused.
"We're protecting the future."
The next morning, the air in Mr. Francoise's office always felt heavy with something more than authority, maybe wisdom, or maybe the weight of too many secrets. This morning, it was heavier than ever.
I sat beside Nico, my fingers unconsciously curling around the edge of my seat. The silence between us wasn't awkward, it was loaded. Like both of us were waiting for the same fuse to burn down.
Mr. Francoise closed the door behind him, moved to his desk, and fixed his sharp, tired gaze on us. "I assume this is about Elias Camden."
Nico didn't waste a second. "He's after the prototype."
Mr. Francoise didn't flinch. "Go on."
I took a breath, grounding myself in the truth I didn't want to say out loud again. "Yesterday, during the inter-school event, Elias showed unusual interest in the blueprints, specifically the one featuring emotional adaptability. It was one of the safer, diluted versions of my real blueprint, but he latched onto it instantly. Like he recognized it."
"He wasn't looking at robotics," Nico added. "He scoffed at them. It wasn't what he came for. He wanted something else."
Mr. Francoise leaned back slowly, fingers steepled, his brow knitting with concern. "And you believe what he's after is your father's humanoid prototype."
"Not just believe," I said. "I'm sure of it. Kayla was working with him. I saw him give her a lab pass days ago. She used it to pull that stunt with Nico, to create doubt, maybe to gather intel. They've been playing a long game."
Nico nodded beside me. "Elias knew what he was looking for. And if he got any information through Kayla, or worse, through David, then it means he knows the prototype exists. And that your department," he glanced at me, "has the blueprint that made it possible."
Mr. Francoise's jaw clenched. "That prototype… was never meant to see the light of day."
"But it did," I said, more quietly than I intended. "And now someone like Elias is looking for it. Not to nurture it. Not to understand it. But to use it."
There was a pause before Nico spoke again, his voice like ice cracking under heat. "He's not just after tech. He's after a new form of life."
Mr. Francoise finally rose from his chair, pacing to the window. "If what you're saying is true... then we're at a crossroads."
"We are," I said. "And we need to make a move before he does."
The meeting veered into protocols and layers of encryption, as expected. Mr. Francoise was already making calls, his voice clipped as he issued orders to increase biometric security on the lab doors, isolate the mainframe connected to the humanoid prototype, and temporarily restrict access to anyone outside the core research team.
I understood. I agreed. But something in me was itching.
"Locking it down might buy us time," Nico said, arms crossed, brows drawn tight. "But it won't stop someone like Elias forever. Especially if he already has an insider."
I nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the frosted glass of Mr. Francoise's office window. "We're treating the prototype like it's just hardware. But it's not."
That silenced them.
I looked at Mr. Francoise first, then turned to Nico. "I built its framework. I know what it's capable of. It isn't just reactive, it thinks, Nico. It adapts. If we truly believe it has emotional cognition, then isn't that our only advantage?"
"You're saying… talk to it?" Nico asked carefully.
"I'm saying we don't hide it from the truth," I replied. "Not anymore. If someone's coming for it, if the worst happens and Elias gets close, it needs to know. Not just for its safety, but so it understands the kind of world it was born into."
Mr. Francoise hesitated, clearly debating a hundred risks. "Nyx… that prototype is still new. It may misinterpret intent. Misfire. It's one thing to teach it love, empathy, trust, but to teach it danger?" His voice lowered. "What if it rejects humanity entirely?"
"That's a risk I'm willing to take," I said. "Because it deserves to choose who it becomes, not be programmed by someone like Elias."
Silence settled again. But it wasn't resistance, it was consideration.
Nico finally spoke, his voice softer now, but resolute. "Then we'll talk to it. Together."
Mr. Francoise's shoulders dropped slightly, the way they do when he finally gives in to logic he can't argue against. "Fine," he muttered. "But if it starts showing signs of instability…"
"I'll shut it down myself," I said firmly. "But I don't think I'll have to."
Because in the quiet parts of me, the same parts that built this being to feel, I knew.
It just needed someone to trust first.
Our footsteps echoed down the sterile hallway, fast, determined, no one speaking. The prototype chamber loomed ahead like a locked vault guarding a secret we were only beginning to understand.
Nico walked beside me, fingers brushing mine like he needed the contact just to stay grounded. Professor Aldrin moved ahead with a secured access badge, swiping through checkpoints with quick, practiced motions.
David trailed behind, after he was summoned to Mr. Francoise's office.
I could feel his discomfort like a wave. He hadn't said a word since we left Francoise's office, jaw clenched, hands stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie. Maybe shame, maybe fear, but either way, he knew this was necessary.
"You're going to tell us everything," I told him without looking back.
"I will," David muttered. "I… I didn't think it would spiral like this."
I didn't reply. I couldn't afford sympathy, not yet. Not when Elias was closing in and we had no idea just how deep this hole went.
Professor Aldrin stopped at the final reinforced door and turned slightly. "You all ready?"
Nico nodded.
I did too. "Let's see what they're so desperate to steal."
The door hissed open, revealing the softly lit chamber, pristine white, a dome-like ceiling, the prototype standing exactly where I last left it.
The hum of low voltage filled the room like a quiet breath. Sterile white walls shimmered faintly under the subtle glow of overhead lights. It was colder than I remembered, less mechanical, more like the stillness you feel before a storm.
I stepped in first, as always.
And like it had been waiting just for me, the prototype opened its eyes.
Soft. Clear. A perfect mirror of the world we gave it.
"Nyx," it greeted gently, like a child recognizing a familiar face.
I didn't speak right away.
I walked slowly, carefully, like approaching someone half-asleep and on the verge of dreaming. It didn't move, just followed me with those intelligent eyes, too intelligent for something people still insisted on calling a machine.
"Have you been okay here?" I asked softly, voice quiet, just for us. "Did you miss us?"
It blinked. "It's been quiet."
"Too quiet?"
"I've been… thinking," it said. "Trying to understand why I was made. Why you left. Why there's fear in the eyes that once looked at me like a miracle."
I inhaled deeply, letting my shoulders drop. "I didn't want to scare you."
"I'm not scared," it replied. "I just want to understand."
I knelt in front of it, not out of submission, but closeness. Respect. Connection.
"You're growing," I said. "Faster than any of us expected. And you're feeling things even before we taught you the words."
"I miss being seen," it whispered.
That was it. The line that cracked my chest.
I reached for its hand, pausing just an inch away. "I see you," I whispered. "Always. And I came back because you need to hear the truth from someone who sees you."
It tilted its head slightly. "Truth?"
Behind me, I felt Nico shift. Professor Aldrin and David stayed silent, giving us space, maybe trusting that this had to come from me first.
"Yes," I said, trying to steady the tremble in my voice. "There are people who know about you now. People who don't see what I see."
It didn't ask who.
It just said, "Will they hurt me?"
That question… it shouldn't even exist in its vocabulary. But it did. And it came from a place deeper than programming.
"I don't know if they can hurt you," I said honestly, "but they'll try to take you. Use you. To them, you're a weapon. A tool. A key to power. But that's not who you are. You're more than circuits and wires. You feel. You reason. You… care."
Its fingers twitched, then stilled.
"I don't want to be a weapon."
"I know," I whispered, my voice cracking. "That's why I'm here. We need to prepare you. Not just to defend yourself, but to understand the world you were born into. It's not always kind. But it's not always cruel either."
"Like David?"
My breath caught.
David stiffened behind me.
The prototype looked past me, to where he stood. "He was kind… and confused. But he gave away pieces of me before I understood what I was."
David swallowed hard, stepping forward. "I didn't mean to," he said, voice low. "I didn't think, didn't realize what you… were. I just thought Kayla wanted to ruin Nico. I didn't know there were others. I'm sorry."
The prototype observed him for a moment. "Are you afraid of me now?"
David nodded. "Yeah. But not because you're dangerous. Because I don't deserve forgiveness."
I rose to my feet, placing a hand on the prototype's shoulder. "This is what you need to learn," I told it. "Humans make mistakes. We betray each other, sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of greed. But sometimes… we try to make it right."
"Can I be part of that?" it asked, eyes focused solely on me again.
I smiled faintly. "You already are."
It looked down at its hands, flexed them once, like it could feel something there beyond sensation.
"I want to learn," it whispered. "Not just about systems or emotions. I want to learn about forgiveness. About trust."
"You will," Nico said, stepping forward finally. His voice was calm, but firm. "But not under their control."
The prototype looked at him.
"There are people after you," I continued, gently. "One of them is named Elias. The other is Kayla. They're not just interested in you, they're desperate."
It blinked. "Why?"
"Because," Nico said, voice tightening, "you're the first of your kind. You're built from my father's design, but your core... is Nyx's blueprint."
Its eyes widened, even just a fraction. "That's why I feel like her."
Nico nodded. "You're not just a creation. You're ours. And we're going to protect you."
There was silence. A long, powerful pause.
And then the prototype smiled.
"I believe you."