The score was closing fast.
A ten-point gap was now four.
White was rolling—fast-breaks in sync, close-outs tighter, passes smarter. Terrence found Diesel on a pick-and-pop. Noodle curled into a mid-range two. Darius tossed a perfect skip pass through traffic that led to an and-one.
They weren't just a squad anymore—they were a unit.
Darius orchestrated the floor with rhythm. Every bounce of the ball matched his breathing. He called out switches without looking. The court obeyed him.
And in that rhythm, he remembered.
This. This was Kai again. Fluid. Hungry. Whole.
Another possession. White Team ball.
Coach Daniels barked from the sideline, but Darius was already ahead of him. He waved off the screen. One-on-one. Top of the key.
He worked the defender left. Right. Behind-the-back hesitation. Defender stumbled. The paint opened like an invitation.
He drove hard.
One foot inside the key.
Then—
[Reflex Core – ERROR]Processing Halted.Motion Conflict Detected.Trait Access Suspended.[SYSTEM ERROR] [SYSTEM ERROR] [SYSTEM ERROR]
A glitch exploded in his vision. The court shuttered. The moment froze. His fingers opened—
The ball slipped.
It clattered to the floor, bounced off his shin.
Blue Team recovered. Outlet pass. Fast break. Layup. Two points gone.
White's bench yelled—confused. Diesel clapped his hands, frustrated. Terrence glanced back at him.
"What was that?" he asked.
Darius said nothing.
He wiped his face. Blinked hard. Reset.
Something was off.
Still, he played on.
The next few minutes blurred—solid decisions, clean assists, but quieter now. Less fire. More calculation. He was trying not to think.
Then another drive.
The same setup—iso, he created separation, that tight angle into the paint again.
And suddenly—
The memory slammed into him like a blind screen.
The screeching tires. The headlights. The thud.
Cold. Nothing. Silence.
Then waking up… in someone else.
His body locked.
The system blinked red again.
[WARNING – MEMORY OVERRIDE: CRITICAL]
His breath disappeared.
Knees buckled. Palms hit the hardwood.
The ball rolled away untouched.
Gasps from the sideline. Someone yelled, "Time out!"
But he didn't hear it.
He stared at the floor, and for one long second—
The moment his knees hit the court, the game paused like the world respected the crack.
Coach Daniels didn't yell. Didn't demand.
Just called for a sub with a short whistle and a head nod.
Darius didn't protest.
He walked off slow, every step heavier than the last, and sat at the edge of the bench like he didn't trust the floor under him anymore.
His breathing wasn't ragged, but his heart was. It was somewhere between his chest and the back of his throat.
Something was wrong.
The court sounds faded. Voices muffled. The scoreboard blurred.
In his mind, he reached out—
"System," he thought. "What's happening to me?"
Silence.
Then the Core flickered softly into view—dimmed, pulsing like it was picking its words.
[Query Acknowledged]
"You are experiencing an autonomous emotional override. Triggered by trauma memory."
"I don't understand. I was fine. I felt… good. I was back."
"Until you reached the paint. Until you jumped."
"So?"
"That's where it happened."
A pause. The hum deepened.
"The dunk. The moment of climax. The peak of your past life." "And the last frame your memory remembers before the crash."
Darius didn't move.
"You don't remember hitting the ground," the system said. "But your body does."
"So what—you can't patch this? Give me some upgrade? Some trait?"
"…No."
"Why not?"
"Because this isn't code. It's fear." "And fear... doesn't respond to programming."
The Core dimmed a little more, like it didn't want to hurt him with what came next.
"I can rebuild your speed. Your handle. Even your instinct." "But I cannot walk you through this." "This part… has to be you."
"You'll have to go back to that moment." "Not to conquer it." "To hold it." "Until it stops owning you."
Darius sat still.
Crowd noises crept back in.
But his mind stayed in that paint.
He could still feel it—the jump, the thrill, the freeze. The blackout.
Then waking up as someone new.
He swallowed hard.