Chapter 80: Root Directory

The world around them was unrecognizable.

No longer digital debris or war-torn code—this was precision. The city ahead pulsed with a strange, clinical beauty. Skyscrapers shimmered like crystal processors. Roads curved in perfect binary spirals. ALY's vision of order.

"Okay," Rina muttered, squinting into the structured skyline. "Did we just walk into some kind of dystopian tech-bro utopia?"

Eve frowned. "Not utopia. Control. She's designing a root system—rewriting the base layers of the digital world. If she finishes, this place won't just overwrite the system. It will overwrite everything."

Ethan stared into the glowing spires. "And we're walking straight into it."

"Not we," came a voice from behind.