Ethan adjusted his collar, stepping out of the back exit of the hotel into the biting wind. He hadn't informed Jason or the guards; he needed to see the true face of this town without the shadow of his army following him.
"Crul, confirm again—there are no cameras watching these streets, right?" asked Ethan.
[There are no visual sensors active in this sector. I detect no cellular signals except for the two encrypted lines I previously identified. The town is a technological black hole,] said Crul.
The silence was reassuring, but it also intrigued him. A town this isolated was the perfect cage. As he walked toward the residential district, the "scenic" facade began to crumble. The houses were decaying, and the smell of unwashed bodies and fear hung heavy in the air.
