: Abort Now

Ava barely had time to process Jessica's warning before a sharp ping echoed in her skull.

Not a sound—a notification.

[SYSTEM ALERT: NEW DIRECTIVE RECEIVED]

Ava stiffened. This wasn't normal. Her system never gave her unsolicited directives.

The world around her dimmed, information filtering into her vision like a blueprint overlay. She blinked, and suddenly, there it was—a full-rendered map, glowing in faint blue lines, stretching across her mind like a wireframe of the district.

Her position flashed, marked in white.

Jessica's? Yellow.

Angel's? Red.

But what made her breath hitch—what sent a slow chill curling through her spine—was the second red marker, stationed just two blocks away, moving. Fast.