Chapter 6: Diverging Paths
Vera’s arrival threw the chamber into stillness. No one moved. Not even the flickering lights seemed to dare.
“You always did arrive just a few minutes late,” she said, stepping forward. Her visor retracted, revealing eyes like polished glass—calculating, cold, but undeniably human.
Nathan placed himself between her and Lina. “Step away from the console.”
Vera tilted her head. “And if I don’t?”
“I’ll stop you.”
Her smirk faded. “You won’t. Because you still think there’s something left to save.”
Behind him, Lina worked quietly, fingers flying across the interface.
Jax stood in the doorway now, rifle raised. “You’ve got five seconds to walk away.”
Vera ignored him. “There’s a central node beneath the strait. Buried in what used to be the Marina Reservoir control system. You destroy these sublinks, fine—but the main core is still dormant. Until I wake it.”
“And drown the world with it?” Nathan growled.
“No,” Vera replied. “Rebuild it.”
Lina hissed. “She’s stalling. We need to go—now.”
Jax fired a warning shot. The echo snapped the spell. Vera stepped back into the shadows.
“We’ll see each other again, Nathan,” she called. “And next time, you’ll wish you’d listened.”
Then she was gone.
Lina cursed. “She was buying time. She wanted us to chase her.”
Nathan looked at the now-stable console. “We don’t chase. We cut her off.”
Jax checked his rifle. “Then we move. Fast. Before the Eyes redirect.”
Outside, the Undercity trembled with new energy. The game had changed. And now the path diverged—one leading to the heart of Vera’s ambition, the other to the truth buried beneath a city that had already drowned: Jakarta.
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