Moving toward Los Angeles.
Behind the convoy.
Russ leans forward.
“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
Wren swallows.
“It is.”
“What?” Adam asks.
She looks at all of us.
“There isn’t just one Architect.”
The helicopter vibrates harder as we push deeper into the storm.
The timer continues counting down.
3:51:03
Two command signals now racing toward Los Angeles.
Two systems competing for control.
And suddenly—
This mission just got a lot more complicated.
31
River
The first warning hits the traffic grid.
Not a crash.
Not a shutdown.
A hesitation.
Which is worse.
I’m sitting in the operations room when the freeway cameras flicker across the main monitor wall.
Interstate 5.
Cars slowing for no reason.
Traffic lights recalculating.
Emergency routing systems running diagnostics.
The system is trying to figure out what’s happening.
Which means something is already inside it.
