The sky didn't roar when the drones retreated. It whispered.
As if the world had held its breath for too long, and now—slowly, carefully—it was learning how to exhale.
From the high ridge above Node Zero, Orion watched the black streaks of the New Regime scouts dissolve into the clouds like bad dreams. No smoke, no debris, no need for fire. Just deterrence. Precision. Mercy.
Behind her, LUCENT's hum settled into something gentler. Not silence—awareness. Presence. Like a tide that no longer needed to crash to be known.
Lucy stared at her console, blinking as if waking up. "They're… retreating. Just like that?"
"They weren't here to fight," Orion said. "Not really. They were here to see who blinked first."
Cole let out a slow breath. "And we didn't."
"No," she said, a flicker of something unreadable in her voice. "LUCENT didn't."
