Rain misted over the rooftops of the inner capital.
Inside a repurposed safehouse beneath an abandoned observatory, Erin spread a dozen data chips across the table.
Ashton leaned over her shoulder. “All of this... you gathered alone?"
“No," she said. “I had help. But most of them didn't make it out."
He picked up a chip labeled Aegis Variant Trials. “This is the batch that burned the children's lungs?"
“Yes."
“You falsified these records?"
“I corrupted them. Rewrote live sequences. Rerouted doses. Reassigned IDs."
He looked at her. “You were inside the machine... breaking it."
She shrugged. “Someone had to. The outside world wasn't listening."
---
They moved into the war room.
Old maps. Live feed monitors. Civilian unrest boiling across cities—protests igniting, government feed
