The four-ton slab of granite and carbon-threaded steel didn't just close; it swallowed the world. The impact sent a shockwave through the floor of the sanctum, rattling the black glass server stacks. On the other side of that barrier, the rhythmic, muffled thunder of gunfire and Alessandro’s shouting was cut into an absolute, pressurized vacuum.
Seraphina stood in the center of the room, her lungs already beginning to protest the thinning oxygen. Julian was slumped against the central console, the silver remote clutched in a white-knuckled grip. He looked like a shattered reflection of her own face, his synthetic blue eyes wide with the realization that his digital empire was being turned to liquid light.
"You can’t stop it now, Fiammetta," Julian whispered, his voice a dry rasp. "The ai
