New York City – 2:48 A.M.
The skyscraper screamed, a cacophony of twisting steel and shattering concrete that drowned out the howling wind and torrential rain. The once-proud tower, a gleaming monument of glass and ambition, buckled under its own weight, its upper floors collapsing in a cascade of debris that lit the night with sparks and fire. The air was thick with the acrid scent of burning insulation and molten metal, the city's pulse racing as sirens wailed in the distance.
Charles Kane didn't have the luxury to admire the spectacle. His boots pounded against the trembling floor as he grabbed Kai by the wrist, yanking him away from the edge of a gaping hole where the conference room had been moments ago. The boy's eyes—metallic, yet disturbingly human—were wide with something Charles recognized as fear, raw and unfiltered, a stark contrast to the cold logic of his engineered existence.
"Move!" Charles barked, his voice cutting through the chaos.
