Dawn on February 3rd found every screen in Integration Command Alpha alive with motion. Five colors pulsed on the continental map—five guilds, five rhythms, five problems that only got harder if we paused to admire them.
"They've advanced their clock," Viktor said, voice stripped to essentials. "Joint operations inside three weeks. Pyronis is repositioning to garrison Alliance labs. Harmonyx has begun a continent-wide narrative push. Chronovant is open-sharing prototypes to accelerate everyone else."
A familiar quiet set in behind my ribs: the calm that comes when the shape of the fight is finally honest.
"We don't wait for their thesis," I said. "We break the study group. Simultaneous strikes on all five. No time for mutual support, no single axis for them to anchor on."
Reika stepped out of the dim around the intel dais, violet eyes catching the map's light. "Even distributed, this is five fights at once," she said. "We can't be everywhere."
