The hum of the command center was soft and constant, like a heartbeat under glass. Screens lined the curved walls in seamless arcs, each one alive with scrolling data. Doran stood at the center of it all, perfectly still, the faint glow of the monitors tracing sharp light across her face.

Her hands were clasped behind her back, posture immaculate, eyes fixed on the central display — a pulsating sphere of code rendered in fractal blues and silvers. The Echo Network’s internal map.

Until ...