Vikram stood by the dusty window, watching the rain wash over the rusted shipping containers outside.
"My father knew this," Vikram said, his voice quiet. "That's why he ran."
"Yes," Mr. Desai said. "Amar realized that Devendra's vision of order was nothing but tyranny. Devendra wanted to use the Core to create a localized electromagnetic field that would put the entire city's communications under his control. Amar stole the activation cipher and fled."
Rohan looked up from his rifle. "Why didn't my father leave with him?"
"Appa wanted to protect the street kids," Desai said, looking at Rohan with sympathy. "He stayed behind to build the underground network, to give Amar time to hide. But Devendra found Amar. He offered him a choice: help build the Core, or watch his family die."
"My father chose to fight," Vikram said, his knuckles turning white.
"He did," Desai said. "He fought Javed and three other Wraiths. He killed two of them, but Javed betrayed him from the shadows. Amar died protecting the cipher. He knew that as long as the cipher was safe, the Core could never be fully activated."
"But Devendra has the backup cipher now," Rhea said, looking up from her screen. "He extracted enough data from Mr. Desai's notes to bypass the security lock. The only thing he needs now is the alignment."