MasukRichardThe council chamber was too bright, not only because of the lighting, though the overhead panels hummed with cold fluorescence, but because every face in the room was exposed. Postures stiffened under scrutiny, and expressions held the tension of anticipation. No one blinked or exhaled. Some
A woman ran down the sidewalk, her shoes slapping the concrete. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide with fear. “Lia! Baby,”She stopped when she saw me beside her daughter. Her eyes snapped to my face, then dropped to the open case and the syringe in Simon’s hand. Her entire stance tensed, like
The border towns always felt too still. Not quiet in a peaceful way, but quiet in a way that made the air taste like stale sugar, like the kind of quiet that follows an argument you walked in on too late.The buildings were short and municipal, lined in brick and glass with poorly tinted windows, li
Simon adjusted the data. That signal disappeared, and the remaining zones snapped into a sharper configuration.“That cleaned up the quadrant,” Simon said, half to himself. “I’ve been trying to solve that loop for forty-eight hours.”Richard’s voice came low and fast. “She just started recovering. I
AmeliaSimon met us in the lower lab of the central wing, buried deep beneath the council hall where the air felt unnaturally still. Layers of concrete sealed the space off from the rest of the building, quiet enough that our footsteps echoed louder than they should have.Two guards stood at the ent
“And what exactly would you like me to disclose, Elder?” I asked, keeping my voice even. “That she was manipulated by an engineered frequency system? That she lost control because of an attack built by people we are still investigating? Or that she clawed her way back on her own despite all of it?”







