inted so deep, the ocean beyond looked oil-slicked. Greta Vo

-sheaf hovered in the air beside her - six screens wide, each pulsing with telemetry, mark

it surpr

e-split sim run through the Atlantean tier. She'd allowed it - a control

the doors ope

t late to rehearsal. The man looked like a banker, moved like a wraith, and had

ed the variable?"

age easily. "They'll test her. And she'll d

apons - instruments. Neural probes, chemical agents,

ised an

nchrony dose

d. "Not to be admin

no

e murmured. "Like a cruci

ppeared - The Core, in schematic. No longer theoretical. It pulse

t," she said, voice low. "Severin thinks

his head. "Wh

hinks it can survive by mapping itself onto an older mind. Bu

the proje

won't be any war. Just compliance

ov wa

next move?

nly, stepping

e local uplink cut, three Tier Three techs scrubb

esit

gger a Tier Tw

I want the whole lattice vibrating

e window, sipping th

y. But she does

ine. A secure call, no audio - only the blinking

ere wa

let

re to herself than to Korshov. "Before Monarch

mmand queued. Unsent. A dormant virus she'd b

NANT

at it for a

d the console a

t

line get

touch

the past come