The lights in Doran’s command center dimmed as the hum beneath the floor deepened into a throbbing pulse — rhythmic, deliberate, alive.

Banks of data screens flickered in sequence, their once-smooth code unraveling into unpredictable fractals. The air grew colder. Static whispered along the edges of every display.

Doran stood at the center of the storm, perfectly still, her eyes half-closed. The faint blue light of the neural implant at her temple pulsed in sync with the systems around ...