Elena's data drive sat on my desk like a coiled snake.
I stared at it for hours, unable to look away. The counter-equation. The Architect's life's work. The thing that was supposed to save the world or destroy it. I couldn't tell which anymore.
"Leon." Samir's voice came from the doorway. "We need to talk about this."
I looked up. He was standing there, his face pale, his eyes hollow. He'd been analyzing the data for days. He looked exhausted.
"What did you find?"
He walked over and sat down across from me. "The counter-equation. It's not what we thought it was."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not a solution. It's a virus. A virus designed to destroy the original equation. But it's also designed to destroy everything else. Every network. Every system. Every mind."
I felt the cold spread
