The hummer rolled to a smooth, mechanical stop at the bottom of the slope—its engine cutting off with a purr that felt out of place in the war-wreck silence of the old city ruins.
Above them, crumbling signage blinked in glitchy loops—remnants of what used to be a café, or a pharmacy. The kind of place where people once wasted time.
Now it was just camouflage.
Cassi leaned over the wheel, chewing a piece of gum that had lost flavor two hours ago. She tapped twice on the dash, then turned in her seat without looking back.
"Alright. We're here. Your palace awaits."
Lucas didn't move immediately.
He sat in the back seat, arms relaxed across his lap, eyes half-lidded like he was still calculating the next three moves past this one. His coat was dusted from the road. His boots were scuffed. But his system lines—those faint golden sync marks crawling just beneath the skin—still pulsed with quiet, unreadable confidence.
