Riley stared at the dead screens.DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOU TO THE TOWER.The message remained in his mind even after the blue letters had disappeared.Someone—or something—had warned him.But who?And how had it known what the Silver Guild intended to do?“Riley.”Helena's voice brought him back to the room.He looked at her.“What did the message say?”Riley glanced at the commander, then at Adrian. Neither man had lowered his guard.“It told me not to let you take me to the tower.”Nobody spoke.Helena's expression remained controlled, but Riley noticed her fingers tighten around the edge of the table.“So it knows about the tower,” she murmured.“You sound surprised.”“I am.”“Why?”“Because the message came through our equipment. Whatever sent it was able to access a secured network that has never been connected to the outside world.”Riley frowned.“Are you saying Jade did it?”“No. I'm saying we don't know what did it.”“Then we're back where we started.”“Not entirely.”Helena

Riley stared at the door.Three knocks.Then silence.Miles moved to stand beside him while Jessica stepped away from the table, positioning herself where she could see both the entrance and the corridor beyond it.Nobody opened the door.“Who is it?” Riley called.“Open the door, Riley Ederson.”The voice was male, calm, and unfamiliar.Riley glanced at his friends.“That's not an answer,” Miles muttered.Riley raised his voice. “Tell me your name.”A brief pause followed.“Ethan Cole. Silver Guild personnel. I'm here because of your evaluation.”Riley's eyes narrowed.He had heard plenty of names since arriving at the cantonment, but Ethan Cole meant nothing to him.“What's your position?” Riley asked.“Research division.”That caught his attention.The commander and Helena had both been involved in the investigation. Neither had mentioned anyone named Ethan Cole.Riley focused on Jade.“Identify the person outside.”SCANNING EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT.He waited.ONE HUMAN LIFE SIGNATURE

Riley read the notification again.WARNING: ANOTHER SYSTEM HAS DETECTED YOU.The message didn't disappear when he dismissed the interface. It remained fixed in the corner of his vision, a persistent reminder that something had found him.Something Jade couldn't identify.He had grown accustomed to uncertainty since acquiring the System. There had always been things she couldn't explain, abilities whose limits he hadn't discovered, and dangers that only became apparent after he had already encountered them.This was different.Jade wasn't simply missing information about an unfamiliar object. She was warning him about another System, something that could apparently recognize him without making direct contact.And if Ethan was telling the truth, Jade herself might be one part of something larger."Can it see through my eyes?" Riley asked.Miles looked at him. "What?""Nothing. I'm checking something."He focused on the interface."Jade, can the other System access my senses?"NO VERIFIE

Riley woke to a notification.Not an alarm. Not a message from the Guild.A single line of text waited in the corner of his vision.PASSIVE MONITORING REPORT AVAILABLE.He sat up.For a moment, he couldn't remember why he'd fallen asleep with his clothes on. Then the previous night's events returned: the meeting with Commander Voss, the unknown System, the fragment's pulse, and the connection that had reached five percent without his permission.Miles was asleep in the other bed. Jessica had claimed the chair near the door for the night, though she'd eventually moved to the spare bed after Riley insisted that somebody needed to sleep properly.The room was quiet."Jade, display the report."A window opened.PASSIVE MONITORING REPORTMONITORING PERIOD: 7 HOURS, 18 MINUTESUNIDENTIFIED ENERGY EVENTS: 1SOURCE: UNRESOLVEDSIGNATURE SIMILARITY TO SYSTEM: 12.4%CONNECTION PROGRESS: 5%Riley frowned."Only one event?"CONFIRMED."Did the fragment emit another pulse?"NO CONFIRMED PULSE DETE

Riley did not sleep.He sat on the edge of his bed with the record of the latest access attempt displayed across his interface, reading the same three lines until he could recite them without looking.REQUESTING PROCESS: JADEHOST AUTHORIZATION: NOT DETECTEDPROCESS OWNERSHIP: UNRESOLVEDThe room was quiet except for the ventilation system. Miles had finally stopped pacing and was sitting against the wall, arms folded, while Jessica examined the notes Riley had written during the evening.None of them had found a reasonable explanation."Let's start with what we actually know," Jessica said.Riley lowered his interface. "Something requested access to a restricted historical record. The request came from inside Jade. It wasn't authorized by me, and Jade can't establish who initiated it.""Good." Jessica tapped the notebook. "Now tell me what you think happened.""Something inside Jade is trying to access information she can't explain.""That's one possibility.""Another is that Jade he