Morning arrived not as a sunrise but as a reckoning.

The skyline was wrapped in fog, the world below smudged into gray, as if even the city wasn’t ready to look itself in the mirror. But everywhere, screens were glowing. Headlines bled across every channel:

THE VALE EMPIRE FALLS, SECRETS UNEARTHED IN HISTORIC LEAK.

CORRUPTION NETWORK TIED TO INDUSTRIAL FIRE COVER-UP.

THE LEGACY OF FIRE: WHO WILL RISE FROM THE ASHES?

Justina watched it all from the edge of Carson’s bed, wrapped in one of his ...