The first indication came as a fault report that shouldn’t have existed.

Gray was cross-checking power flow from the northern grid relay when he noticed it—an irregular pulse hidden in the low band diagnostic feed. It was faint, almost shy, like a heartbeat buried under static.

He replayed the trace twice. Each time, the pulse shifted phase just slightly, as if it knew it was being observed.

“Not possible,” he muttered, fingers flying over the console. “There’s no return echo on ...