The wind that swept through the industrial ring carried the tang of ozone and rust. The first anchor site lay behind them, still smoldering, its red veins receding into darkness. Hale and Gray pressed onward, through the twisted arteries of the city’s lower grid, where power lines hung like dead snakes over streets drowned in fog.

Gray checked the portable array on his wrist, its faint blue light trembling with interference. “Signal fragmentation’s increasing. Victor’s architecture is ...