Chapter 98: The Choice That Changed Everything

Silence.

Not the comforting kind, like the hush before sleep or the stillness of dawn — this was something heavier. It pressed down on everything, thick as molasses and twice as cold. Ethan's hand hovered a breath away from the Genesis Core, which no longer pulsed in urgency. It waited.

So did everyone else.

Rina, still gripping the wrecked chassis of the Administrator, had gone pale. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out — her voice swallowed by the void that stretched from indecision.

Eve's body sparked weakly, the digital equivalent of shallow breathing. One of her arms had gone translucent, fragmenting with each second the choice remained unmade. "You don't have much time," she whispered.

Ethan clenched his jaw. Every cell in his body screamed for action, but the gravity of the decision weighed like iron chains.