The Last Code

Node 4

I dropped Suvi off at the Soul Retrieval Bureau. It wasn't the kind of place you'd expect for something so... important. The walls were too clean, too perfect, and the silence that filled the air was suffocating. It was cold—nothing like the city outside, full of noise, life, things that didn't belong in this sterile place.

Nisha was behind the counter, her eyes flicking up as I walked in. She had this way of making me feel like I am late to a party I didn't want to be at.

"Another one, Aiden?" she asked, her voice sharp but playful.

"Yeah. Another one," I replied, sliding the digital dossier across the counter. It flickered on the surface, holographic details of Suvi's soul popping up in midair above it. She didn't even look at it, just swiped it away with a quick motion. It was all business to her.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're moving slow today. Everything alright?"

I shrugged. "Same old."

She didn't buy it. "You sure? You look like you've got the weight of the world on you."

I didn't respond. She knew I wouldn't.

Back in the corner, Karan and Meera were plugged into their terminals, eyes glazed over. They were busy doing whatever they did, probably chasing down corrupted souls or tracking glitches in the system. The office felt like a machine—a cog in a much bigger one. I didn't want to stick around and have a conversation.

I turned to leave, but the officer at the desk didn't even look up from his screen. He didn't need to. Suvi had already been processed. I didn't like it.

I headed out before anyone could say anything else.

I tossed a sandwich into my mouth and flopped onto the couch. It was a reflex, something I did every day. But today? It felt different. I couldn't stop thinking about her.

It was just a job. I repeated it like a mantra. I couldn't get attached. I shouldn't care. But there was something about her that didn't fit into the usual routine. Something about her that made my chest tighten just thinking about it. I grabbed my phone and scrolled aimlessly for a few seconds. Nope. Not helping. I needed to clear my head. Distraction. Find something distracting.

Oh, music. Music always helped.

I swiped to my playlist and hit shuffle. The song that came on? Some upbeat, over-the-top pop song I'd normally skip, but today? Today, it was perfect. I started humming along, maybe a little too loudly.

"I got the donuts, I got the sprinkles..." I sang, badly, as I got up and headed for the fridge. The line didn't even make sense, but it was catchy as hell, and I was all in.

I swung open the fridge door, still singing. "Where's my donuts? Oh, yeah, donuts..."

And then, I froze.

"Jesus, Suvi," I muttered, blinking. I slammed the fridge door shut, then opened it again, just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. But she was still there, leaning casually against the door, arms crossed like she'd been there for hours.

"You missed me that much?" she asked, her voice light but full of that underlying challenge.

I froze. "What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't just let you do your job without me," she said, pushing off the fridge and stepping into the kitchen like she belonged there. "You didn't think I'd just disappear like that, did you?"

I stared at her, confused and a little pissed off. "You... you ran away?"

"Not so much 'ran away,'" she shrugged, the corner of her mouth lifting in that stubborn way. "More like... refused to play along."

I tried to keep my cool, but the frustration bubbled up. "You can't just—"

"I can. And I did." She didn't look sorry. Didn't even seem concerned.

I stood there, dumbfounded. "What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?"

"Do whatever you want," she said with a casual shrug, daring me to make a decision. "But you don't get to control me."

I couldn't even breathe. Everything inside me tightened. She was making this more complicated than it ever needed to be.

"Suvi," I said, my voice low. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Good thing I'm not like the rest," she said with a grin that was way too sharp.

I took a step back, running a hand through my hair. "You do realize what you've done, right? You're literally the definition of illegal right now. There's no guidebook for, 'What to do when a soul you just turned in shows up in your fridge.'"

She glanced toward the fridge, unbothered. "Speaking of fridge, you've got terrible taste. Who tf puts onion in a fridge like it's an achievement?"

I blinked. "It came with the fridge. Don't change the subject."

"Fine." She hopped onto the counter, swinging her legs like she was settling in for storytime. "I didn't run away to mess with you, Aiden. Well, not just to mess with you."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling. "Enlighten me."

"Simple." She leaned back, looking entirely too comfortable. "I don't belong in their system. You know it, I know it. And deep down, they know it. But they're too wrapped up in their shiny rules and sterile offices to admit it."

I stared at her, half-expecting her to turn into a hologram and glitch out because this couldn't be real life. "So your solution was to... break into my apartment? Suvi, do you understand how risky this is? They're gonna scan my logs and see you've been here, and then poof! Goodbye, Aiden's career, hello, court hearings."

"Relax," she said, rolling her eyes. "I hacked into their surveillance system. Your logs are clean. As far as they're concerned, I'm still in their database, playing by their rules."

My jaw dropped. "You... hacked into their system?"

"Don't sound so surprised. It's not like it's hard. Their firewalls are basically held together with duct tape and good vibes."

"Oh, great," I muttered, throwing my hands up. "Now you're a fugitive and a cybersecurity expert. Just what I needed."

She slid off the counter, walking past me to peek into the fridge again. "Anyway, you're out of coffee. Might want to fix that."

"Suvi, I'm not kidding—"

"Neither am I. Coffee is crucial if I'm going to survive in hiding here." She paused, pulling out a leftover slice of pizza. "Oh, and this? Tragic. Who reheats pizza with pineapple on it? I'm starting to think you need me more than I need you."

I stared at her, feeling my sanity slip away like sand through my fingers. "You're unbelievable."

She took a bite of the pizza, grinning through the chew. "You'll get used to it."