A flicker ran through the room. Light throbbed inside the walls.
Faint, yet pulsing - the glow threaded through the Core as if currents hummed beneath stone. Wires breathing under plaster. Light moved there, slow and steady, not sharp but present. A rhythm without sound. Walls held it like skin holds warmth.
Frozen in place, Sloane stayed put amid the chaos around. Stillness held her while everything shifted.
Fenris had lost his stillness. A quiet tension now lived behind his eyes instead of peace.
A weight pushed into her chest, as if stirring after years still. Each beat of her heart grew stronger while the devices nearby droned on.
Elias noticed.
“You feeling that too?” he asked quietly.
Sloane nodded once.
“It’s reacting.”
Footsteps above made the metal paths hum under new pow
