The next morning, I was woken not by sunlight or an alarm, but by the dull hum of magnetic boots reverberating through my apartment's floor.
Agents.
I reached for my stackglass terminal and wiped it clean in a single breath. The download key—Nyxari's map—was tucked into a ghost partition. Even their forensics wouldn't find it. I hoped.
The door burst open.
Six Enforcers. Cold masks, expressionless. And behind them, a face I hadn't seen in years.
Dr. Eilan Vorr.
My former mentor.
He stepped in like he owned the place, hands behind his back, eyes locked on mine.
"Kai," he said, his voice heavy with disappointment. "You opened something that should have remained sealed."
I didn't speak. I didn't move.
He nodded at the Enforcers. "Detain him. Maximum suppression. We'll scan his thoughts at base."
I acted.
Triggered my failsafe. A ripple of blue light burst from my jacket, a localized EMP that dropped every system in the room for five precious seconds.
I dove through the service panel, into the maintenance shaft, heart racing, lungs burning. Virelia's under-city was a labyrinth—part waste system, part digital artery. I knew it better than they did.
I ran.
But in the back of my mind, something else moved. A presence. Not Vorr. Not the Enforcers.
It.
Nyxari.
Whispering now. Clearer.
"Run, Architect. The seals are breaking."