The shockwave hit her like memory turned to fire.

Evelyn staggered through the red expanse of the Echo’s core, the ground rippling beneath her feet as light bled from the horizon. The digital air cracked—bands of white searing through the crimson haze like lightning across glass.

Something deep in the architecture screamed—thousands of subroutines collapsing all at once. It wasn’t just code failing; it was structure fracturing, like the network’s very bones had splintered.

She knew ...