2026-01-16 23:57:38
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Davion moved without looking back.He cut through alleys choked with smoke and broken glass, keeping to shadows, letting instinct guide his steps. Sirens wailed somewhere behind him, but not the kind meant to help. These were sharp, directional—signals meant to funnel prey.The hum under his skin pulsed in warning.They were close.He vaulted a collapsed barricade and dropped into a drainage corridor just as something slammed into the street above. The impact rattled the concrete ceiling, dust raining down around him. Davion hit the ground running, boots splashing through shallow water as his lungs burned.Don’t stop. Don’t think.But his thoughts came anyway.Mira’s face when he’d turned away. Jared shouting after him. Beverly’s voice breaking as the signals spiked.Leaving hadn’t been bravery.It had been damage control.The corridor opened into an abandoned service tunnel. Davion ducked inside and pressed his back to the wall, forcing his breathing to slow. He closed his eyes for h
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They didn’t sleep that night.Davion sat on the floor of the temporary command room—an abandoned transit office with cracked screens and flickering lights—his back against the wall, knees drawn up, eyes fixed on nothing. Every time he closed them, the hum grew louder. Not painful. Not yet. Just… aware.Like something breathing with him.Across the room, Mira paced. She had changed her bandages twice already, more out of frustration than necessity. Jared leaned over a table covered in maps and half-functioning tablets, arguing quietly with Beverly through a static-filled holo.“We can’t keep pretending this is a coincidence,” Beverly said. “The attacks stopped when Davion left the area.”Mira stopped pacing. “That doesn’t prove anything.”“It proves enough,” Beverly replied. “Whatever he’s carrying—it’s acting like a beacon. Not just to the Custodians.”Davion finally spoke. “To who else?”Silence.Then Beverly said carefully, “To anyone who knows how to listen.”Davion pushed himself
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The quiet didn’t last.Davion felt it before anything actually happened—a pressure behind his eyes, a faint tightening in his chest, like the city itself was bracing. He stood on the roof of a half-damaged parking structure, watching emergency lights flicker below as responders moved through the streets. People were alive. That mattered.But something was wrong.Mira noticed it too. She leaned against the concrete barrier beside him, arms crossed, eyes scanning the skyline. “You’re doing that thing again.”“What thing?”“Staring like you’re listening to something the rest of us can’t hear.”Davion swallowed. “Because I am.”The hum beneath his skin pulsed faintly, not loud enough to hurt—but persistent, like a distant signal calling his name. He hated how familiar it felt.Beverly’s hologram flickered into existence between them, her face pale under the blue light. “I’m getting reports from three other cities.”Davion turned sharply. “Already?”“Yes,” Beverly said. “Same pattern. Brie
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Davion woke to silence.Not the peaceful kind. The kind that rang in his ears, sharp and hollow, like the world had been scooped out and left behind. His body felt wrong—heavy, numb, distant. For a moment, he couldn’t tell where he ended and the rubble began.Then pain arrived.It came in waves, rolling through his chest, his head, his limbs, each one demanding attention. He sucked in a breath that burned all the way down and coughed hard, dust tearing at his throat.Light flickered above him.Broken lights.Sparks.He shifted, groaning, and a slab of concrete slid off his shoulder. The movement sent a spike of agony through his ribs, but it also reminded him of something important.He could move.“Mira…” he rasped.His voice echoed weakly through the collapsed tunnel.No answer.Panic surged, sharp and sudden. Davion forced himself upright, ignoring the protest from his body. The hub was gone—reduced to twisted metal and melted walls. Smoke curled lazily through the air, carrying the
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The hub sealed with a sound like a tomb closing.Steel plates locked into place, layers folding over each other until the outside world vanished completely. The hum inside the chamber deepened, vibrating through Davion’s bones. Light bled from the walls in slow pulses, white turning to red, red turning to something harsher—alert, danger, finality.A timer ignited above the core.05:59Mira slammed her fists against the door. “Open it! Davion—open it!”Her voice echoed uselessly as the chamber sealed her out.Davion didn’t turn.He stood beside Elias at the base of the core, staring up at the towering lattice of light and circuitry. Cables snaked into the floor like roots, pulsing in time with the countdown.Elias exhaled slowly. “Once I’m connected, they’ll feel it.”Davion nodded. “How long before they override you?”Elias gave a humorless smile. “Immediately.”The timer ticked.05:42Above them, the city screamed—faint, distant, but real. Davion imagined streets locked down, drones
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The drones hovered in perfect stillness.Davion had never seen silence look so violent.They hung midair like suspended blades, lights dimmed, weapons powered down at a single unseen command. The tunnel felt tighter, heavier—like the city itself was holding its breath.The man stood between Davion and the hub, calm as if chaos wasn’t tearing the world apart above them.“Step away from the door,” Davion said, weapon raised.The man didn’t flinch. “You won’t fire.”Davion’s finger tightened.“Because,” the man continued, voice smooth, “you already know it wouldn’t matter.”Behind Davion, Mira staggered into the tunnel, clutching her side, smoke clinging to her hair. She froze when she saw the drones—when she saw the man.“What did you do?” she demanded.The man glanced at her, assessing. “You fought well. Inefficient. But brave.”Mira spat blood onto the concrete. “That’s not an answer.”He smiled faintly. “I paused the lattice. Every node. Every drone.”Beverly’s voice came through the
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