f Level S5 were

y that built up in the throat, as if each step drag

no names, only numerical codes and permission slips

ía, descending an emergency staircas

a removable chip hidden up her sleeve. Bruno d

brushing your teeth or double-checking escape

lves facing a door that looked like part of the wall. No han

ll black square hidden in the shadows, j

e," she w

He'd already learned that Lucía kept sec

soft sound, too gentle

t dark. The air wa

row, gray, with straps at the ends and pillows that

ly blinking with faint signals indicating that, at some

chill run d

" dismissals, silent disappearances, covert audits t

s was d

as per

built into the wall and began

eyes were fixed, hard, as if he al

id, his voice hoarse. "

leaned

pounding so

moment, as if hesitant t

ional deviance index. Reconditioning p

rld st

e ground beneath he

move more slowly: the erroneously assigned shifts, the unanswere

e around her, like an invisible noose

she

e murmured, unable to

runo finished for he

p breath, but it

fear. Not from the horro

variable gone awry, for a decision not executed

lls of NCA with an empty

ocol?" she asked, wit

hook hi

m an external access point. It left no trac

, as if she needed something

s Julián?" she

looked

ink he pro

ulián Iriarte formed clearly: his calm voice, his meticulou

felt him close. She didn't see him, but sh

s him, it means he's playin

odded g

stepped on

ed back a

anguage that spoke of "functional reintegration," "eradica

lt a dee

st a place f

for erasing what mad

ilence, withou

ía. She was no longer fighting j

s fighting

ed, it meant that others l

didn't confront the system, her sile

who had entered NCA with her eyes o

vived being erased... vow

d her crumbl

n't break down the way someone is expected to when they

s: her shoulders hunched inward, her jaw clenched like a barrier holdin

if she wanted to hide from something t

id no

that could change wh

t warning, without analysis, with

ching her shoulder, and then...

ad always been like that: ready

cognized that stillness Bruno brought, that way of say

st. Not completely. Just enough to a

on his collarbone. He

ilence as if it w

er mind w

not see t

hammered at

m the system, monitoring her movements, cove

know that NCA had

lready c

ready con

away from being e

ecuted without question, and

that white room, her

ut a

ut a

out

itted hi

just hel

boiling fury, like m

the syst

believed, at some point, that they co

h other

t the fire t

under

le ground. Either you're u

long time now, h

hat equation, was

erous

but he felt her brea

slight a

runo knew he was holding someone

too

er a litt

something, but like someone vow

dy against his, he made a promi

ch you again. I

meant destroy

ant losing hims

ía wasn't h

s his

one that