The subterranean vaults of Sector 3 beneath the Brooklyn docklands had transitioned from an emergency fortress of alchemical science into the absolute economic and biological epicenter of the world. Inside the main administration cavern—a massive, high-tech industrial hall carved from deep granite and reinforced with sleek obsidian panels—the atmosphere was intensely crisp. The low-frequency hum of automated quantum computing servers synchronized perfectly with the deep geothermal pulsing of the newly rerouted European ley lines, sending an electric, violet-indigo vibration through the concrete floorboards.
The ambient air did not smell of old paper currency, rust, or the metallic tang of human money. It was heavily saturated with a suffocatingly dense, majestic aroma of vaporized silver
