The first sign something was wrong wasn’t noise.
It was stillness.
The city below them, which had been flickering and shifting like a living circuit, suddenly paused again. Every light held. Every signal stabilized. Even the hovering structure above the rooftop stopped adjusting its position.
Bella noticed it immediately.
“This feels worse,” she muttered.
Leo didn’t respond right away. He was watching the projection beneath them. The network map was still visible but something had changed. The nodes weren’t just lighting up anymore. They were… hesitating.
Bella frowned. “Is it supposed to do that?”
The man in the coat tilted his head slightly. “That is not expected behavior.”
That was the first time he sounded uncertain.
Bella looked at him sharply. “You’re saying the system i
