POV RUBY
The first explosion wasn't a sound; it was a physicalweight that buckled the titanium floor. Above us, thereinforced glass of the dome groaned, a hairline fracture spider-webbing across the view of the dark Mediterranean. A single, crystalline bead of seawater hissed as it hit a hotserver rack.
I was no longer Ruby Lane. I was a conduit. Behind myclosed eyes, I wasn't in a failing underwater laboratory; I was standing in a cathedral of light made of pure information. The sum of human empathy—centuries oflove letters, mother’s lullabies, and the quiet sacrifices ofstrangers—was rushing through my neural pathways likeliquid fire. It was too much for a human heart to sustain.
Thump... Thump...
My pulse was a dying echo.
"Ruby! Wake up! We have to move!"
Nevan’s voice reached me
