Seven hours into powering the barrier, I felt something wrong.
Not the extraction—that was expected agony. Something else. The quantum signatures I was feeding the barrier weren't sealing dimensional breaches. They were opening new ones.
"Commander," I gasped through pain. "Check your readings. The QRB—it's not—"
"It's working perfectly," she said. Not concerned. Satisfied. "Just not the way we told you it would work."
Through dimming consciousness, I saw the truth on her monitors. The barrier wasn't sealing breaches. It was creating controlled pathways. Regulated doorways. Managed entrances for Convergence entities to cross into our reality without the chaotic dimensional fracturing.
"You're letting them in," I whispered. "You're using me to power invasion instead of prevention."
"W
