The city didn't sleep anymore.
Every screen flickered, every speaker glitched, every quiet corner hummed with ghostly static. The Accord's perfect order was unraveling, thread by thread.
But the Accord was built to crush chaos.
In the central tower—miles above the choking fog of the lower districts—the High Council gathered. Black glass walls reflected their still faces as streams of corrupted data crawled across the air.
"The disturbances have reached Sector Twelve," one officer reported. "Systems are collapsing faster than containment can respond."
A woman with silver implants at her temples spoke, voice sharp and cold. "The rebels call it Resonance. But it's spreading through neural frequencies—carriers among the population. If we don't isolate it now, silence will fall forever."
Another leaned forward. "Then we activate Directive Null."
The room went deathly still. Even the hum of machines seemed to hesitate.
"You'd erase half the city," someone whispered.
The silver-eyed woman didn't blink. "Half a city is better than losing control."
After a beat of silence, the Council's lights turned crimson. Directive Null was approved.
In the tunnels, Mira froze as the ground vibrated beneath her boots. The faint hum of the Resonance warped—changing pitch, painful, almost screaming.
"What's happening?" one rebel shouted.
Mira's voice was tight. "They're flooding the lower levels with signal interference. They're trying to cut us off."
Daren cursed under his breath. "If they jam the Resonance..."
"They'll choke it out," Mira finished. Her fingers dug into the wall, feeling the vibration fading. The very sound that had united them was being smothered.
She turned sharply to the others. "Spread the signal. Boost every node Kael built. Don't let it die. Do you hear me? Don't let it die!"
Kael stumbled through the upper corridors, alarms flashing crimson. He didn't need the shard to know what was coming. The air itself buzzed with the Accord's retaliation—an invisible storm of suppression frequencies.
The walls pulsed faintly, the Resonance dimming, stuttering. He could feel it dying.
He pressed the shard against his chest, whispering, "Stay with me."
It flickered weakly in response.
And then—he heard it. A sound deeper than thunder, older than words. From somewhere below, Mira's voice, carried by static and pain.
Don't let it die.
Kael grit his teeth and pushed forward. The shard responded, brightening against the suffocating silence. His steps echoed through the corridor, heavy, defiant.
If the Accord wanted silence, they'd have to bury him with it.
Back in the tower, the silver-eyed woman watched the map of the city pulse with interference. Sectors were darkening one by one, collapsing into controlled quiet.
"Containment progressing," a soldier said.
But then—one light flickered back to life. Then another. Then dozens.
"What—?"
The silver-eyed woman's gaze snapped to the display. "Someone's amplifying it from inside."
The Resonance was fighting back.
Her lips thinned. "Then burn everything between."
The order went out.
And the city began to burn.