The alarms began at dawn.
Lucas woke to the sound of sirens threading through Haven-17 — a low metallic howl that shook the walls.
The System's voice followed, calm and absolute.
"Containment Protocol Seven initiated. All Ascendants return to sector checkpoints immediately."
He sat up fast. "What the hell is going on?"
[Priority alert: Unauthorized Resonance detected. Source trace: L-17-D.]
His name flashed beside the warning.
Every screen in his room pulsed red.
"No…" He tore open the door, stepping into the corridor. The other Ascendants were already gathering, their interfaces glowing the same crimson hue.
Rena caught his arm. "Lucas! The city's locking down. The System thinks someone's trying to corrupt the Core."
"Someone?" he asked, his pulse hammering.
She looked at him — and hesitated just long enough for him to understand. "It's pinned it on you."
[Target marked for containment.]
He swore under his breath. "It's the link. Whatever that was last night — it's blaming me."
Rena's eyes widened. "Then you need to run before they get here."
Haven-01
Evelyn's tower was silent except for the chime of warnings cascading through the air.
Her wristband dimmed to black as the System cut her access one permission at a time.
[Containment protocol active.]
[User: 01-A-23 restricted to quarters.]
[Cause: Resonance contamination.]
She stared at the messages, disbelief flickering across her perfect composure. "Contamination? From what?"
A projection appeared in front of her — the blurred data signature of the same anomaly: L-17-D.
The same interference that had reached her yesterday.
Her jaw tightened. "He did this."
She turned toward the observation window; outside, drones were already forming rings around her tower, their lenses glowing white.
Isolation. Quarantine.
[Warning: External interference spreading.]
Evelyn touched the glass, eyes narrowed. "If he wants war, he'll have it."
Haven-17
Lucas sprinted through the market district as drones descended from the upper levels.
They weren't like the ones Noah had fought below — these were clean, angular, gold-plated, built for efficiency.
"Subject L-17-D, surrender for decontamination."
He ducked into an alley, bullets of condensed light shattering the stone beside him.
"I'm not contaminated!"
[Non-compliance detected.]
Rena appeared at the far end of the alley, holding out a small crystalline drive.
"This'll blind them for a minute. Get to the lift shafts and drop into the maintenance tunnels. You'll find the lower access grids."
He took it. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because I don't believe in perfect systems."
She smiled briefly. "Go."
He ran.
Haven-01
Evelyn stood in the white corridor outside her quarters.
Two guards approached — human this time, armor humming with the System's sigils.
"Lady Rowe," one said, "you are to remain confined until the anomaly is neutralized."
She gave him a look that made him flinch.
"Neutralized? You mean destroyed."
No response.
The lights around them flickered gold — her Resonance responding to her temper.
"Tell your masters," she said quietly, "that if they can't contain him, I will."
The guards hesitated only a second before stepping aside.
Her access band, somehow, still obeyed her will.
[Override accepted.]
The System whispered in her ear as she walked past them:
"Containment compromised."
She smiled without humor. "Good."
Meanwhile – Between the Cities
Far beneath both Havens, the data veins that connected the world trembled.
For the first time, two frequencies pulsed in harmony — gold and silver — distorting everything around them.
[Containment failure probability: 79%.]
[New directive: Terminate both anomalies before synchronization exceeds threshold.]