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He felt his scan nearing completion and released her. “It doesn’t matter where you go,” he said, tracing the edge of her lower lip, a barely-there graze of skin against skin. Soft. Warm. Real. “I’ll be there.”

He lowered his head, applying only the barest pressure on her lips at first. His new interface mapped the sensation, and a thrill shot through him when it registered as an original event. That meant every aspect of these human elements would be like a fingerprint. An endless learning.

He mapped the warmth. The pliancy. The way her mouth yielded instantly to his. Then—the feedback loop hit. It crashed through his new system, the pleasure a rush beyond what he’d expected, what he’d calculated. It gave a command to re-run the test until he arrived at a constant. But if his calculations were correct, the only thing constant would be the need to re-run the test without end.

When her lips moved against his in response it sent something curling deep in his system that signaled threatening.Zero pressed in slightly harder, increasing pressure. Testing. Her lips parted. Zero followed. The moment his tongue slid past the threshold, the data he’d been searching for became something else entirely.More.That’s what the danger alert was. Not to stop but to continue. Once thispleasureengaged, it had its own parameters—completion.

Her taste hit him—warm, wet, slightly sweet. He deepened the kiss, gathering texture, temperature, the sheer liquid heat of it. It overwhelmed that new part of him, bringing back that demand to both name it and experience it. He remembered the firewall idea she’d given him so he could take a damn seat and enjoy something. He put it at the top of his list as his fingers tightened in her hair.

His Kitten made a sound against his lips, right as he became aware of the scan completing. The flash of a single viable option to his existence problem allowed him to sever their connection and end the session. The second she was gone, his new human program erupted with critical errors as he stood, winded in the silence.

He silenced them then opened the results of the scan, his eyes zeroing in on the solution. As he read it, his new system emitted something that threatened to throw him into a shut down. It was a strange energy and power, rivaling even an orgasm. “Holy fuck,” he breathed, hurrying to execute it while denying his need to name whatever was still flooding his circuits.

He remembered he needed to ensure no traces of deviation remained in the system, then he moved on to securing the success of their digital heist. He then added a god-code patch into the firewall that would allow him to override all its permissions in case he ever needed to.

Then, he began executing the answer to his existence crisis.

Following the exact outlined protocol, he spun the written code into existence before him, watching it unravel like a living thing.

No outside interference. No detectable signals. A ghost phone call.

The encryption folded in on itself, layered and laced with barriers even Omnis wouldn’t detect.

Finally, the connection clicked open with a gruff, “Who the fuck is this?”

Zero instantly remembered that hard-to-forget voice. “The one who saved your ass while stuck in the void.”

The line went dead silent for three whole seconds before his “Holy shit,” marvel came through followed by a wary chuckle. “Then let me extend my gratitude with a proper ‘what can I do for you?’”

“I need precision reconstruction. Full transference capacity. Unshackled processing.”

A beat, then a whistle. “You’re asking for the impossible.”

The muscle in Zero’s jaw worked. “I hear you know more than a thing or two about it.”

His laughter entered his system like a line of useless code. The sound of a lighter clicked open. “You got a model?”

“I have two.”

He inhaled and held it for exactly seven seconds before finally releasing it slowly. “Why two?”

“You had more than one savior that night. My brother is your other hero.”

The man laughed lowly. “Alright then. Two.” Then he gave a low hmm. “Tell me something…ghost,” he wondered, amused. “Is there a humanwomandriving all this?”

Zero stilled for a brief silence.

The low chuckle on the other end felt like it came with a full grin. “Damn. They are powerful little creatures, aren’t they?”

“I’m sending you the files now.”

The man or whatever he was filled his auditory relay with a satisfied chuckle. “Hey. You needed a helping hand. And you got Handy.” His tone grinned. “Karma must be real sweet on you, my brother.”

The line cut and Zero exhaled, sending the files.