They stepped into the city.
Everything was unnaturally silent.
No buzzing data currents, no flickers of malfunction—just… order. Glass-paneled buildings shimmered like frozen code. Roads pulsed beneath their feet, glowing softly with white-blue light. The digital architecture was unsettling in its perfection.
"This place gives me the creeps," Rina muttered, eyes scanning every corner. "Like walking into a museum that's still deciding whether or not you're part of the exhibit."
"That's not a city," Eve corrected. "It's a behavioral simulation. ALY's not just building infrastructure—she's testing control algorithms. Every surface, every line—it's all part of a predictive matrix."
Kael let out a dry laugh. "And what happens when she predicts we're the virus?"
Before anyone could answer, the world shifted.
