They split before the next set of checkpoints could close.
Clara remained at the counting-house node. She worked the residual channels with the same steady focus she had used to pull the quiet traffic patterns—seal renewals and authority-mark verifications that matched no public roster.
The data came in clean. She stored it, wiped the local traces, and kept the node live long enough for the others to clear the immediate perimeter.
Eli left under a short escort of broken Brotherhood soldiers who still answered to the old bloodline forms. Her route ran straight for the ducal quarter, where the restoration command had consolidated.
Atlas took the open road toward the densest White Spire control. He moved with deliberate visibility, authority marks still carrying enough residual weight to force a challenge rather than an immediate kill order.
Lara went alone into the service levels beneath the eastern residual hubs, following the thinnest of Clara's recovered leads.
