The network screamed again.
I was in the war room with Selene, reviewing the latest reports on the city's recovery, when the connection flared in my mind. Not pain—something worse. A warning. A presence I'd never felt before.
"James?" Selene's voice cut through the haze. "What's happening?"
I gripped the edge of the table, my vision swimming. The network was shifting, its connections realigning. Something new was emerging. Something vast. Something hungry.
"I don't know," I said. "But something's wrong. Something's coming."
---
I found Freya in her lab, her face pale, her hands trembling over her keyboard.
"James," she said. "I've been monitoring the network. There's a new signal. Something I've never seen before."
"Show me."
She pulled up a holographic display. The network was a
