Dawn didn’t rise so much as bleed slowly into the sky, a thin wash of pale gold that struggled to lift the weight of the night before. The city looked different in early light—exhausted, restless, holding its breath. Jake felt it as he stood on the roof of an abandoned telecom building, the wind brushing against his clothes, the cold settling into the back of his neck like a warning.Kael climbed up behind him, moving with the stiff heaviness of someone who had spent the entire night watching shadows shift where no person stood. “Lyra’s downstairs recalibrating the drones,” he said. “They picked up energy fluctuations around the south corridor. Same pattern we saw before the grid tremors.”Jake nodded without looking away from the waking horizon. “They’re preparing for something else. Something layered. Last night wasn’t an attack—it was a rehearsal.”Kael came to stand beside him. The early sun caught the rough angles of his face, sharpening his expression. “You think the shadow was

The air inside the interchange thickened as the shadow stepped forward, its form wavering like heat bending the horizon. Jake stood anchored on the platform, the capsule humming at his feet, its markings glowing with quiet intelligence. A hundred questions slammed into him at once, but none made it past his lips. The presence across the chamber seemed to absorb every stray flicker of resolve and amplify every doubt he had buried beneath years of discipline.Kael shifted his stance, blades half-drawn, shoulders angled toward the threat. Lyra stayed close, her drones casting faint glimmers across the pillars as they struggled to stabilize their light. None of them spoke; none dared to break the fragile balance that hung in the air.The shadow’s voice flowed across the chamber with unnatural calm. “You were not supposed to find this place so soon, Jake Sullivan. But then again, you’ve always been ahead of the curve you were designed to follow.”Jake forced a breath, grounding himself. “Y

Morning light never fully reached the safehouse basement, but the air was warmer than usual, humming quietly with the whir of Lyra’s drones and the low murmur of tactical screens. The three of them gathered around the table again, though the mood had shifted. What had started as strategy had become something heavier—something personal.Jake stood closest to the canister, the etched strip of metal still lying beside it. He hadn’t touched it, but he also hadn’t stepped away from it since dawn. His eyes kept returning to the words even when he tried to focus elsewhere.Kael watched him in the reflection of a dim monitor. He wasn’t judging—just reading the way Jake carried himself. The stiffness in his shoulders. The way he exhaled through his nose instead of his mouth. The subtle signs of a man trying to bury a fear he didn’t want them to see.Lyra tightened a strap on her wrist console and cleared her throat, drawing both of their attention. “We need to map out its psychological pattern

The morning arrived without color, dim and muted like the city itself wasn’t sure it wanted to wake. A low haze drifted over the district, softening the jagged edges of broken towers and collapsed walkways. Jake Sullivan sat at the edge of a rusted balcony, elbows resting on his knees, breathing steadily through the cold air. He hadn’t slept. Not fully. Not after what the shadow had attempted.But he didn’t feel shattered this time. He didn’t feel invaded. If anything… he felt seen in a way he couldn’t yet explain.Kael stepped outside, footsteps quiet even on metal. He leaned against the railing beside Jake and didn’t speak, which Jake appreciated. Kael never pushed for words. He waited, giving space while still being a presence.“Lyra’s running a full diagnostic,” Kael said softly after a moment. “She’s worried the emotional decoy patterns might destabilize your baseline.”Jake shook his head. “I’m fine.”“You don’t have to pretend with me,” Kael replied. His voice wasn’t stern—not

The street quaked under the presence of the shadows, a silent vibration that seemed to seep into the bones. Jake’s eyes narrowed, watching the liquid darkness twist and coil around the corners of the ruined buildings. Every instinct screamed caution, but the shadows weren’t advancing blindly—they were probing, observing, calculating.Kael’s chest rose and fell rapidly as energy flared from beneath his skin, glowing faintly like embers in a hearth. “It’s trying to synchronize with me,” he murmured. His voice was tight, controlled, but there was a thread of tension Jake recognized—the same tension he felt when facing a weapon with no trigger.Lyra shifted beside them, drones forming a tight lattice overhead. The air hummed faintly as arcs of electricity traced between the hovering devices. “Then we give it a signal it can’t interpret,” she said, voice steady but urgent. “Jake, your emotional decoy patterns—amplify them. Kael, stay grounded, don’t let it draw from your power directly. I’