Wren
The alerts start stacking on the screen.
One after another.
Power fluctuations.
Emergency call spikes.
Transportation slowdowns.
Each one blinking across the map like warning flares.
My fingers fly across the keyboard.
“This can’t be a coincidence.”
Behind me, Boone and Adam stand over the table, both watching the screen now.
Russ paces near the window, rifle leaning against the wall. Blade and Miles, stand against the counter.
Outside the wind pushes through the trees harder now.
Like the whole mountain knows something is coming.
Another alert flashes.
Regional Grid Disturbance — Nevada
Then another.
Fuel Distribution Delay — Utah
Then another.
Emergency Dispatch Overload — Arizona
My chest tightens.
“This isn’t natural.”
Boone leans closer.
“What do you mean?”
“These systems shouldn’t fail at the same time.”
Adam nods slowly.
“Cascading failures are usually triggered by something upstream.”
“Exactly.”
I open another panel.
Infrastructure monitoring.
Real-time telemetry streams across the screen.
