The Outer Ruins stretched before them like the corpse of a dead civilization.
Skyscrapers leaned at broken angles, their glass shells bleeding static light into the clouds. The streets were veins of twisted metal, lined with the skeletons of drones and long-forgotten machines. The air smelled like ozone and ash.
Leon adjusted the tattered cloak over his shoulders as he stepped into the desolation. His boots crunched on the shattered road, each step echoing through the silence.
Kiera followed behind him, scanning with her wrist console. “Signal trace from the Resistance broadcast is faint, but it’s definitely leading here,” she said. “Somewhere in this district.”
Leon’s golden eyes glowed faintly. “What was this place before?”
“Sector 9,” she answered quietly. “One of the first test ci
