Chapter 22 The city was quiet now, but not peaceful. Arcadia’s ruins whispered under a pale dawn, the streets slick with rain that glimmered faintly as though it remembered the glow of the machines that once ruled it. Rachel walked alone among the rubble, the shard of light Kyle had left her pulsing softly in her hand. Each beat matched a rhythm she had come to recognize the subtle, unmistakable echo of Kyle’s own heartbeat.Three weeks had passed since the Cathedral’s collapse. The Core’s detonation had shattered the Shard and freed millions, yet the world felt emptier, colder. Governments squabbled over Arcadia’s remnants, media outlets broadcasted Kyle’s story as legend, and survivors whispered his name like a prayer. “The Man Who Became Light,” they called him.But Rachel knew better. She had seen the light in his eyes before the explosion. The determination. The self-sacrifice. He had not wanted godhood, only to save the city and the people he loved. Now, standing at the edge of