The ivory balcony of the Apex Pavilion disintegrated behind us as we plummeted through the clouds of the High-Band. The transition was violent; the sterile, champagne-scented air was instantly replaced by the biting, electric cold of the digital troposphere. I felt the weight of the gown a heavy, silk anchor shredding in the wind, the Vantablack data peeling away to reveal the tactical bodysuit I’d hidden beneath.
"Now, Mia!" Dax’s voice was a raw command as he fell beside me, his tuxedo shirt whipping like a flag.
I reached out into the void, not with my hands, but with my mind. I pulsed the stolen encryption key, sending a high-frequency SOS into the darkness. The response was a sapphire roar.
The Norton-construct didn't just appear; it materialized beneath us with the force of a mid-
