SEVER ZERO
A voice called out.
Ren turned.
Standing on a rooftop opposite him was Jax.
The glitch-kid looked stronger now. His avatar was stable. He held a glowing blue sword that looked like it was made of pure data.
"Jax," Ren said, uncloaking. "What is happening?"
"The Awakening," Jax said, gesturing to the marching NPCs below. "Your code cut their strings, Ren. They stopped following the Admin's script. Now, they're building their own."
"Where are the players?" Ren asked. "Where are the regular users?"