Chapter 15 : The Heretic's Chase
July 7–8, 2147, Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Mara Eluin crouched against Angkor Wat's lotus-carved spire, monsoon rain soaking her shaved head, her Keeper tattoos glowing faintly under her neural visor's red haze. The temple's neural conduits hummed, a low pulse that stirred memories of Tarek, her lost lover, his warm breath on her neck in a dark Istanbul hideout, their bodies pressed close, defying their Keeper vows. "We'll burn the lie," he'd whispered, before Enlil's enforcers cut him down, his blood pooling in torchlight. Her throat tightened, gripping her holo-staff, its fractal glow syncing with drones she'd hijacked to shield the Flame-Twins, Reyan Al-Mehdi and Selika Maris Delgado, hacking the temple's vault below. Mara was a heretic now, her faith in the Veil—a neural web chaining human minds—shattered by a vision of Ilum-Ra's truth. The Twins were her redemption.Her visor pinged, catching Silas Daem's neural virus worming through the vault's conduits, a toxic code threatening to fry the Twins' rigs. "Clever bastard," she muttered, fingers racing over her holo-staff. She dove into the neural stream, a digital river of light, her tattoos burning as she unleashed a counter-code, a fiery pulse that torched the virus. The conduits sparked, the hum swelling into a lotus-like throb, a soothing pause that steadied her racing heart. She exhaled, the monsoon's damp heat clinging to her skin, prahok's fishy scent lingering from a scavenged meal earlier.A vision hit: Ilum-Ra's starfire blood spilling across a void, human minds—countless glowing threads—tangled in the Veil's web. A man's face flickered, not Tarek's, but rugged, scarred, with fierce brown eyes. Kael, her mind whispered, a stranger's name stirring a spark of desire, raw and unwelcome, like Tarek's touch long ago. "Focus," she hissed, shaking it off, her tattoos still warm.Her visor flashed—three Keeper assassins, their cloaks shimmering, gliding through the jungle. Enlil's enforcers, hunting her heresy. She holo-burst to the Twins: "Virus down, but Silas's drones are in. Grab the shard and run."Selika's voice crackled, tight with pain: "Inanna's clawing at me, but we're out." Mara's visor tracked them through lotus tunnels, their glyphs flaring. She sprinted to a temple hideout, stone walls etched with lotus carvings, the hum faint but calming. The Twins stumbled in, rigs smoking. Reyan's dark eyes, scarred from war, scanned the room, pulse-knife drawn. Selika, bronze skin blood-streaked, clutched her head, nosebleeding, her glyphs pulsing wildly."You burned the virus?" Reyan asked, voice low, distrust sharp."Kept you breathing," Mara said, tossing a pack of sticky rice laced with prahok. "Eat. Assassins are close."They sat on the stone floor, the hum a gentle backdrop. Reyan tore into the rice, his fingers trembling, not from hunger but something deeper—fear, Mara guessed, of losing Selika to the voice in her head. "I saw it in Peru," he said quietly, eyes on Selika. "You whispering to Enlil. How do I trust you?"Selika's gaze snapped up, wounded. "I'm fighting her, Reyan. Every second she's in me, I'm fighting." Her voice cracked, a raw edge that made Mara pause. Selika wasn't just a tool; she was unraveling, her strength a fragile thread against Inanna's grip.Mara broke the silence, visor syncing with their rigs. "The shard shows the Veil's a web, every mind linked. Your blood can rewrite it, free us all." She leaned in, fierce. "Selika, you're stronger than her. Prove it."Selika nodded, wiping blood from her nose, her eyes hardening. Mara saw it then—a spark of defiance, not just for Reyan, but for herself. Reyan's hand twitched, as if to reach for her, but he stopped, the rift between them a quiet ache.A Keeper drone whined, crashing through the hideout's entrance. Mara's holo-staff flared, frying its rig, metal sparking on stone. "Move!" she shouted. They fled into the jungle, banyan roots snagging boots, neural snares humming. An assassin's holo-blade grazed Mara's arm, neural pain searing her tattoos. She spun, staff cracking their visor, code bursting like blood. Reyan slashed a drone, his pulse-knife sparking, while Selika stumbled, Inanna's whisper a shadow in her eyes. "Stay with me," Reyan growled, hauling her up, their glyphs flaring in sync—a moment of trust, fragile but real. Mara's drones clashed above, acrid smoke stinging her lungs.In a banyan grove, they collapsed, rigs flickering, jungle heat suffocating. The stone was cold, lotus hum a distant echo. Mara's visor sparked, her hands trembling from neural fatigue. She slept three hours, Tarek's ghost and Kael's face—defiance, desire, death—haunting her dreams. The Twins slept apart, rice crumbs sticky on their fingers, their rift unhealed but softening. Mara's heresy was iron: she'd chase them to Eridu, or die in the red hour's fire.