The extraction from the Aether-Tech Core was supposed to be a surgical retreat, but the "Anomalous Chord" had acted like a beacon.
The facility wasn't just defending itself with steel; it was fighting with time. As the team sprinted through the primary exhaust tunnels, the walls began to ripple. The sleek, white panels of the data center flickered, momentarily replaced by the damp, moss-covered stones of a medieval keep, then by the charred ruins of a future that hadn't happened yet.
“The frequency is unstable!” Cassius shouted over the roar of a temporal wind that shouldn't have existed. “Evangeline’s surge didn't just break their firewalls; it punctured the localized timeline!”
Xander gripped Evangeline’s waist, literally holding her to the present as her physical form threatened to
