The forest outside the cabin had grown darker by the afternoon, shadows thickening under the canopy. Daniel sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, eyes closed, the faint blue glow pulsing around him like a living aura. Natalie and Adrian watched from across the room, both tense, waiting for the boy to finish his internal scan.
“I can feel them,” Daniel whispered, voice low but steady. “Several… fragments. Hiding in different places. Some in machines… some… in people.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “They’ve spread faster than I thought. We can’t underestimate them. This isn’t just about one Core anymore — it’s about a network of Genesis nodes scattered worldwide.”
Natalie leaned forward. “Then we contain them here first. We can’t risk them reaching other systems. Daniel, can you isolate the clo
