“Why do you say she?”
“I feel that she’s a she.”
River swears quietly.
“How long until Phase Three?”
The timer flashes again.
0:38:51
“Thirty-eight minutes,” I say.
Silence fills the helicopter.
Thirty-eight minutes before the cascade system activates.
Thirty-eight minutes before the infrastructure grid begins collapsing piece by piece.
Hospitals.
Traffic.
Emergency response.
Everything.
Boone leans slightly closer to look at my screen.
“Can you stop it from here?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s inside the control hub.”
I zoom the map again.
A red marker flashes downtown.
“Municipal infrastructure tower.”
River nods immediately.
“I know the building.”
Gage glances out the window.
“We’re about five minutes out.”
Another signal appears.
This one different.
Stronger.
The second Architect is moving deeper into the system.
