Willy and David sat across from each other in the center of the facility's secure room. Marcus had locked down the building and activated its emergency protocols, but they both knew that the security would not hold long against network operatives with system abilities.
"This will hurt," David said. "Or rather, it will feel like something is fundamentally breaking inside you. It is not actually breaking, but the sensation is similar."
"I understand," Willy said. He reached across and placed his hands on David's hands. "Together?"
"Together," David confirmed.
They both closed their eyes and began the process that Catherine had mapped out decades before. They visualized the system not as something external, not as abilities granted by some mysterious power, but as a fundamental property o
