night arri

quie

Guards rotated on schedule. Servants mo

e calm, tensio

wing, though publicly nothing had changed. We

ilk but in something I could move in. T

cir

e, it wasn't

tem fli

window

bjective u

te targe

ight," I

ight, i

t scen

i

the courtyard wall. S

a se

ai

s slipping along the lower arches. One bent

rk fl

aught in

spread, whistles shrie

d from hidde

had bee

he courtyard erupted into chaos

tairs despite order

n before, contained quic

forced to their kn

ehind

tepped out of

ask

hak

ok surprised

ked irr

me, fury contained

," he co

a small, e

Lo

d this," he

ly. "You overest

ied to speak, but a blade

throat

y a g

ne hidde

an followed

enc

man

urtyar

't simple

s lay

within

ssion shifted,

hadn't ordere

e was clean

shrieked

ontroller

pulation sour

eath

anipulati

a second as fragmente

de

tra

en ben

ssigned my or

sent me to

sn't

itical res

the empire w

actions w

s would di

d

nt to be

s voice gre

ess exceedin

ve action

n shot thro

agge

me instant

t her," I

tightened

is b

ched us carefully. But she wasn'

ke I ha

hadn't be

been

on and killed Mark, the

itne

oose

glitched

ncy ove

mission im

ion bl

sudd

appeared i

Mar

ed without

r slid in

the shift

n't st

t call t

looked

said quietly, "then at least th

tyard no

rowed to the s

s the m

t I had t

th

his h

m would s

line wou

ld su

d

n into fi

membered

anged the

me a c

gger t

failure i

ion lev

exceeds saf

at wa

t his a

i

my skull i

t, the system

ched m

I whis

ade sh

ard his

rd my ow

across the ins

d sp

rupted the sy

destab

jecting

n groun

was mi

instantly, horror fla

nsane?" he

ly," I

was

my mind shatte

silence

h

integrit

ective co

rective i

felt h

lowly, sensing someth

ve to bind my arm, eyes burnin

e

u just fight

enemy," I

eturned one last tim

es, empire destab

g last con

hes along the outer walls

ontro

cont

fire was

every

ut killing me q

s destr

chaos, it would

ell

ide

ed up

the choic

t ch

" I whispered

if I

hing fr

n't he

rn the syst

night as part of the wes

no small

was

eamed in its f

trayal c

ion f

Mark's

time, I wasn

't a w

choo

chos

surged

were

ace plunged

, we were sta