Nrx_sasha Paige, Sofa Weber, Mensia Francis, Me... File

I looked at the three of them—the strategist, the architect, the enforcer—and then down at the drive in my hand. It contained the NRX blueprints, the truth about the "evolution" the company was forcing on the city.

Sasha didn't blink. "Then we don't use the front door. Mensia, how’s the perimeter?" NRX_Sasha Paige, Sofa Weber, Mensia Francis, Me...

The fluorescent lights of the NRX simulation lab hummed with a low, electric anxiety. Sasha Paige stood at the center of the room, her eyes fixed on the holographic interface. Beside her, Sofa Weber was already deep in the code, his fingers dancing across a virtual keyboard with a speed that defied logic. Mensia Francis leaned against the heavy steel door, arms crossed, her sharp gaze scanning the monitors for any sign of a breach. I looked at the three of them—the strategist,

"Static," Mensia replied, her hand hovering near the pulse-grid override. "But the guards are moving toward the sublevel. We’re running out of shadows." "Then we don't use the front door

I slammed the drive into the port. The world dissolved into a rush of binary and light. I felt Sasha’s hand slip away as the digital tide pulled me under. Through the noise, I heard Mensia’s pulse-rifle fire and Sofa’s frantic keystrokes. Then, total silence.

The data was gone. The world was about to wake up, and though we were still trapped in the dark of the lab, the NRX era was officially over.

"We didn't come here for a way out," I reminded her. "We came here for the truth."