right up until it betrays him.
“Backup generators will kick in in ninety seconds,” I say, watching the cascade begin to bend.
Ronan’s voice cuts in, sharp with recognition.
“You’re forcing a diagnostic loop.”
“Exactly.”
Make the system question itself.
Make it call him.
Cal’s voice follows, calm and deadly.
“Which means…”
I lean back slightly, eyes tracking the response patterns as they tighten around the core.
“He’s about to leave his hole.”
And when he does—
He won’t be thinking about us.
He’ll be thinking about his system.
His control.
His failure.
Which is exactly when we take everything from him.
86
Elias Kade
The lights shift.
Not flicker.
Not failure.
Pattern.
Deliberate.
Engineered.
My system doesn’t behave like this.
Which means—
It’s no longer mine.
I reach for my phone.
No signal.
