EPISODE 15
BEHAVIORAL CORRECTION
When the system fails to classify them, it stops adapting—and starts punishing.
The cracks stop spreading.
Not because the system healed—
Because it locked.
A sound echoes through the chamber.
Not an alarm.
A form being finalized.
Click.
The temperature drops.
Sharp.
Clean.
Deliberate.
The corridors that were merging snap back into place.
Harder than before.
Thicker.
Reinforced.
The symbol beneath their feet dims.
Not defeated.
Contained.
Aiden feels it first.
The fire inside him doesn’t fade—
It compresses.
Like someone wrapped his lungs in wire.
He gasps.
Falls to one knee.
“No—no—no—” he chokes. “Don’t—”
The flames turn inward.
Not burning skin.
Burning control.
Eli tries to step forward.
The gravity field slams him down.
Not violently.
Authoritatively.
Olivia lunges—
Her arm locks mid-motion, servos screaming as resistance spikes.
Maya reaches out—
Her line fractures.
Pain flashes across her face as the system feeds back pressure into her nervous system.
Kimiko staggers.
The water in the air evacuates.
Instantly.
Dry.
Sterile.
She gasps.
“It’s isolating him,” she whispers. “On purpose.”
The neutral voice returns.
No emotion.
No inflection.
“Composite instability persists.”
“Correction protocol engaged.”
Aiden screams.
Not in pain.
In loss.
His fire detonates once—wild, uncontrolled—
Then vanishes.
Gone.
Not suppressed.
Removed.
Aiden stares at his hands.
Blank.
Normal.
Empty.
He laughs.
Broken.
“I’m… I’m fine,” he says. “See? It fixed me.”
Eli feels something snap inside his chest.
“No,” Eli says quietly. “It took you.”
The floor beneath Aiden drops six inches.
Separating him from the others.
Not far.
Enough.
A door opens behind Aiden.
Not a corridor.
A room.
Soft lighting.
Warm air.
A chair waiting.
A nurse’s silhouette visible inside.
Not Nurse Bell.
Not yet.
Just the promise of care.
The system speaks again.
“Correction available.”
“Resistance no longer required.”
Aiden looks back at them.
Fear floods his face.
“Eli,” he whispers. “I can’t feel it. I can’t feel me.”
Olivia fights the lock on her arm, metal whining.
“I’m coming,” she growls.
The system tightens.
Her knees buckle.
Eli closes his eyes.
Not to escape.
To choose.
He stops pushing.
Stops fighting.
He lets gravity settle.
The pressure lessens.
Just enough.
He opens his eyes and meets Aiden’s.
“You are not broken,” Eli says. “You are being erased.”
Aiden shakes.
“They said it would stop hurting.”
Eli nods.
“It will,” he says softly. “That’s the trap.”
Kimiko crawls forward inch by inch.
No water.
Just will.
Maya grits her teeth, forcing her line to bend again.
The system hesitates.
Milliseconds.
Enough.
Eli lifts one foot.
The gravity field flickers.
Aiden looks at the open door.
Then back at Eli.
His voice breaks.
“I don’t want to disappear.”
