The aftershock of the rig's destruction still trembled through the sea's swell as Celeste Su stood at the bow of the rescue vessel, rain-lashed hair plastered against her face. Leo, wrapped in a thermal blanket, slept peacefully behind her. Adrian Lu joined her, coat damp and weightless in his void of relief.
He handed her a steaming mug of ginger tea. She drew in the spicy steam, letting warmth seep into her bones. Around them, Mia and Dr. Park secured final connections: remote consoles linked to Project Core's shattered network, monitoring for residual data pockets.
“Anything left?" Adrian asked, voice low.
Dr. Park glanced up. “The core servers are fragmented beyond repair. Some mirror nodes tried to reboot, but failsafe locked them out. The algorithm's hold is severed."
Adrian exha
