The safehouse hummed like a heartbeat.

Every console, every data terminal, every wall panel pulsed faintly with the same quiet rhythm that rippled through the city outside. It was steady now—too steady. A deceptive calm that Hale didn’t trust for a second.

Gray was crouched over the main relay table, surrounded by a scatter of cables and half-assembled field packs. He moved fast, precise, his hands trembling slightly only when the tools paused.

“Two portable power cores, three pulse ...