They worked in darkness, the forest their only cover.

Lyra hunched over her laptop, screen glow painting her face ghoulish green. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, lines of code scrolling faster than anyone else could read.

"The implant is a closed system," she muttered. "Encrypted. Military-grade. I need to crack it without triggering the failsafe."

"How long?" Alessandro asked, standing guard with Jeremy, their rifles trained on the shadows.

"Long enough that we'll probably die before I ...