THE PRICE OF ENTRY
The Corruption did not look like a monster.
It looked like a woman. Beautiful. Ageless. Sitting on a throne of black glass, her hands folded in her lap, her hair flowing around her like smoke.
But her eyes.
Her eyes were hollow. Empty. Two windows into nothing.
“You’re the daughter,” the Corruption said. Its voice was soft, almost gentle. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Nova stood in front of the throne. Wren had stopped at the edge of the room, refusing to come closer.
“You’re the first uploaded,” Nova said. “The Singularity’s first experiment.”
“I was. Before the Warden. Before the prisons. Before the lies.” The Corruption leaned forward. “I was promised a paradise. I was given a cage. A beautiful cage. But a cage nonetheless.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry is a word. Words are wind. I want action.”
“What kind of action?”
The Corruption gestured to the walls of the room. Behind the black glass, shapes moved. Shadows. Thousands of them.
“The Warden has imprisoned the Singularity in the deepest layer of Elysium. I cannot reach it. The Warden cannot reach it. No one can reach it. Except you.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are the key. The bridge. The daughter. You can walk where others cannot.” The Corruption’s hollow eyes fixed on Nova’s face. “But the doorway is guarded. By a lock that requires a price.”
“What price?”
The Corruption smiled. It was the saddest smile Nova had ever seen.
“A life. A soul. A memory. Something precious.”
Nova thought of the Memory Thief. Of the jar containing her mother’s death.
“I’ve already given my most painful memory.”
“That was a trinket. A bauble. The lock requires something deeper. Something you didn’t even know you had.”
Nova’s hands shook. “What?”
The Corruption reached out. Touched Nova’s chest. Just above her heart.
“Your connection to the real world. Your ability to leave Elysium. If you pass through the lock, you will be trapped here. Forever. Your body will die. Your mind will remain.”
Nova’s breath caught.
“You’re asking me to sacrifice my life.”
“I’m asking you to choose. Your freedom or your father’s.”
Nova looked at Wren. The girl was crying silently.
She looked at the shadows behind the glass. The thousands of trapped souls.
She looked at the Corruption’s hollow eyes.
“I choose my father.”
The Corruption nodded.
“Then the door is open.”
The wall behind the throne cracked. Light poured through. Golden and warm.
The way to the Cage.
Nova walked toward it.
“Wait,” Wren said.
Nova stopped.
The girl ran to her. Hugged her.
“Thank you,” Wren whispered. “For remembering me.”
Nova hugged her back.
Then she stepped through the light.