The city was quiet, deceptively so, under the lingering gray of early morning. Rain-slick streets reflected the pale light of streetlamps, and the distant hum of traffic sounded almost like a heartbeat. Inside the monitoring room, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
Meadow stood at the console, eyes scanning the network map that stretched across multiple screens. Every node pulsed with data, every line of connectivity a potential pathway for influence, manipulation, or disaster. After the fourth vector had severed Alaric's control in Phase Two, the team had been forced to rebuild their strategy, carefully threading unpredictability into every adjustment. Now, Phase Three loomed, and the stakes had grown exponentially.
