Location: Outer Rim, White Horizon Ruins
Time: 48 hours after the neural collapse
The world hadn't healed it had mutated.
From above, the wasteland looked quiet, but underneath, the ground pulsed faintly a heartbeat trapped in the stone. The scanners picked it up first: seismic ripples repeating at exact intervals, each one stronger than the last.
Adrian stood before the main console, his reflection fractured in the broken glass. The holographic map flickered with red veins running beneath the surface. They spread like roots, converging deep under the old Genesis Vault.
"It's not supposed to move," Lira murmured, staring at the display. "That's organic activity."
"No," Adrian corrected softly. "That's it."
He zoomed in. The pulse synchronized with a frequency 0.93 Hz, identical to the Remnant's dormant signal.
"Ava destroyed Irena," Lira said, shaking her head. "I felt it she locked the code away!"
