The wind shrieked across the Black Alps facility, tearing at the reinforced structures like a beast denied entry. Snow blew in thick curtains, disguising the armored vehicles parked discreetly beneath geothermal towers. Deep underground, beneath five layers of biometric clearance, two women stood face to face with the future.

Claire Fontaine adjusted the collar of her obsidian coat, her eyes fixed on the 3D schematics rotating mid-air before them. Evelyn Carter stood beside her, arms crossed, ...