"The bracelets are a lie?" Sarah's voice cracked as she stared at the translated message. "What does that mean? And how could the void-touched know about our father?"
Atlas gripped the edge of the display console, his knuckles white as golden energy crackled around them. The pain from the bracelets had become nearly unbearable, sending electric shocks up their arms with increasing frequency.
"It means exactly what we suspected," Atlas growled, turning to face Lin and the Grandmaster. "We've been manipulated from the start. These aren't suppressing our fusion—they're controlling it, directing it."
Lin's normally composed face betrayed the slightest flicker of alarm. "That's not—"
"Don't," Sarah cut her off, her scientific mind racing through possibilities despite the mounting agony. "Th
