Chapter 261: Corrupted
"I rember everything."
Alicia steps forward.
The human barricade parts for her without hesitation, like an automatic door responding to its rightful owner.
Captain Chambers’ expression flickers between relief and anxiety.
"Everything, Chief? You rember everything?" His voice trembles with anticipation. "So you rember that you are our Chief? You can return to work imdiately?"
Hope surges through him.
Desperate hope.
Alicia inhales slowly.
"Captain, I apologize if I was not clear earlier. Let
explain. Please, let us all sit."
She walks to the living room sofa and takes a seat without rushing.
She waits.
Captain Chambers stands frozen for half a second.
Then he quickly follows and sits across from her.
Arthur does not sit.
He knows this conversation is not his. But he also knows Captain Chambers is unstable. So he positions himself beside the sofa.
Crossing his hands.
Standing.
Watching.
Liam understands imdiately that this is no longer his battlefield.
Arthur has taken the role of guardian.
Liam quietly leaves the living room and heads toward his room to shower.
Maeve withdraws as well, returning to the kitchen.
Theo resus his seat at the dining table, picking up his fork as if nothing monuntal is happening.
Alicia fixes her gaze on Captain Chambers.
"Captain. When I said I rember everything, I ant that I rember telling you that I am not your Chief."
Her voice is steady.
"My mind is clear. No one has corrupted . No one has influenced . No one is stopping
from becoming Chief."
She raises her palm before he can interject.
"Please. Do not interrupt . I need you to listen. Do not interrupt."
Captain Chambers presses his lips together.
She can see the restraint in him.
Barely contained.
"I understand that you want your Chief back. I understand that you miss that version of . But I am not that person anymore, Captain. And you need to accept that."
Her tone does not waver.
"Maybe you cannot accept it now. Maybe you will need ti. I do not know. But right now, at this very second, I can say with absolute certainty that I am not the sa person who entered the dungeon at St. Lucas."
There is no hesitation in her voice.
No apology.
No doubt.
The conviction in her words leaves Captain Chambers little room to argue.
It unsettles him.
His eyes dart from side to side, unable to settle on her.
He leans forward unconsciously, perched at the edge of the sofa.
He shifts. Restless.
Trapped.
"Ms. Lutherford..." he begins.
"Call
Alicia."
Captain Chambers hesitates for the briefest second before exhaling.
"Alicia..."
The na feels unfamiliar in his mouth.
"I understand that what you are feeling right now is because you do not rember the last eight months. And those eight months matter. In those months, you beca the Chief of Solarys DEU. You beca my Chief."
His voice grows steadier as he continues.
"In those eight months, we went through life and death together more tis than I can count."
He swallows.
"And not just that. Together, we built sothing new. A special task force. Better than the existing teams. It is still in its early stages. And it needs you."
His composure begins to fracture.
He looks at her.
Half pleading.
"I need you, Chief."
His jaw tightens.
"I do not care if you want
to call you Alicia. To , you will always be Chief. My Chief."
Then, without warning, he drops.
His knees hit the floor.
The sound is heavy in the quiet room.
"So please, Chief. Co back."
Alicia feels sothing twist inside her.
Pity.
For a man who looks utterly lost. A captain of Sentinels.
Competent. Capable.
Reduced to kneeling.
"David," she says softly.
The na leaves her lips almost unconsciously.
Captain Chambers’ head snaps up.
"You called
David. You rember. My na is David. Yes, Chief!"
He springs to his feet, energy surging wildly.
Arthur’s posture shifts imdiately.
The look in Chambers’ eyes changes.
There is sothing unhinged there now.
Too bright. Too sharp.
Arthur does not like that shine. He slowly uncrosses his arms, muscles tensing.
Ready.
Alicia does not notice.
She is still processing how quickly his deanor has shifted. How violently his emotions swing.
From kneeling. To exhilarated.
In a single breath.
Alicia slowly rises from her seat.
Instinctively, she avoids looking up at him as she speaks. Her body leans slightly forward, her posture gentle, as if she intends to calm him.
A hand settles on her right shoulder.
Firm.
Arthur.
A quiet warning. A silent caution.
He barely manages to say, "Wait—"
Captain Chambers cuts him off.
Violently.
"Do not touch her!"
His voice is low.
Heavy.
Threatening.
But what truly shocks Arthur is not the tone.
It is the color of his eyes.
Unnatural neon green.
Glowing faintly beneath the living room light.
Arthur inhales sharply.
Captain Chambers lunges.
His right hand shoots out and clamps around Alicia’s left wrist.
He pulls. Hard.
Arthur reacts instantly. He releases her shoulder so his own grip does not add to the force on her body.
Freed from Arthur’s stabilizing hand, Alicia is yanked forward violently.
She stumbles.
Her balance falters.
She tries to steady herself, but Captain Chambers’ grip is rciless.
Alicia is not small. She is not fragile. She is a highly trained Sentinel who fought off multiple Sentinels the night before.
But the pull is sudden.
Brutal.
Her body does not respond in ti.
As her right arm swings backward to counterbalance, Arthur catches her wrist.
Stopping her fall.
Now she stands between them. One wrist trapped in Captain Chambers’ iron grip. The other secured in Arthur’s hold.
She has beco the rope in a living tug of war.
And neither man is letting go.
The difference is clear.
Arthur’s grip is firm, steady. Protective. It does not hurt.
Captain Chambers’ grip is the opposite.
Crushing. Relentless. As if he intends to snap the bones in her wrist.
Alicia grits her teeth against the sharp pain radiating up her arm.
Maeve has already moved from the stove to stand beside Theo. The bacon sizzles forgotten in the pan.
She feels it first.
The air.
Sothing has shifted.
Subtly. But unmistakably.
To her eyes, the space inside the apartnt is no longer clear.
It is tinted. Muted green.
Faint.
Like a thin veil of sickly mist hanging in the room.
Her breath catches.
She is about to warn Theo—
When Theo shouts,
"Careful! Chambers is corrupted!"
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