The device hummed against my palm like a second heartbeat.
I stood in the ruins of the power plant, staring at the weapon I'd just activated. It was smaller than I'd expected. Sleeker. More alive. It pulsed with a light that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside it. Somewhere ancient.
"Leon." Elena's voice was tense. "What did you do?"
I looked up at her. "I activated it. I unlocked it. It's responding to me."
"Responding how?"
I closed my eyes. The device was connected to me now. To my blood. To my DNA. I could feel its thoughts, its memories, its purpose.
"It's showing me things," I said. "Images. Memories. The people who built it. The people who used it. The people who died to protect it."
"What are they showing you?"
I opened my eyes. "The truth. The real truth. About the e
