The Sterling Academy for Excellence did not just have walls; it had a consciousness. Built on a grid of high frequency sensors and guarded by a battalion of elite Enforcers, the school was designed to be an inescapable fortress for the children of the elite. For Leo, the library sub basement was a golden cage that was rapidly shrinking. The message he had sent to Astra was hanging in the digital ether, a desperate warning that might never reach her through the industrial interference of the Grey Zone.
Leo reached the heavy titanium doors of the archive. The biometric scanner glowed red, its mechanical voice flat and final. "Access restricted. Level Four lockdown in effect. Return to your designated quarters, Student 092."
"I don't think so," Leo whispered.
He didn't reach for a keycard.
