Senior Engineer Lian Yu knew this. She had designed half of its fail-safes herself. So when her eyelids cracked open to the sight of frost webbing across the interior glass, her first rational thought was: System error.
She took the hand.
Lian caught it before it hit the ground. Falling with Ice Phoenix- -v1.00a- -F Project- yu...
Fire licked the viewports. The Frozen Hearth screamed. But inside the maintenance shaft, there was only the slow, steady beat of a heart that had never been allowed to beat before. Senior Engineer Lian Yu knew this
She smiled. A single, perfect tear of starlight slid down her cheek and froze into a tiny, perfect feather. She took the hand
The Ice Phoenix looked at her hands—no longer bleeding, no longer cracking. Then she looked at Lian.
Lian sat up, shivering but alive. “What happens now? Version 1.00a?”