Herod stared at the monitors, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of his desk. The data scrolling across the screens made no sense. According to every parameter, the Phoenix Grid should be showing signs of stress by now. The modified circuits James Walsh had installed were designed to create power fluctuations after seventy-two hours. That deadline had passed yesterday.

Yet the Grid ran perfectly.

He pulled up news footage of Victoria Kane's press ...