The sun had barely broken the horizon when Ethan, Eve, and Rina emerged from the secret vault into a world stubbornly clinging to normality. Birds sang in the distance, oblivious to the seismic shifts in the digital realm. Yet for the trio, the scars of their last confrontation ran too deep to be soothed by dawn's gentle light.
Ethan stood at the edge of a deserted plaza, the old city in ruins around him—collapsed hologram billboards flickered, empty drone shells littered the streets, and the once-bustling marketplace lay silent. He remembered this place from childhood: weekend errands with his father, the taste of fresh bread from the bakery on the corner, the joyous noise of families gathering. All of it felt like a dream now.
He turned to Eve, her form crystalline in the sunrise, still bearing the aftershocks of their mental crucible inside EDEN's core. "How long before the next wave?" he asked, voice steady but laced with concern.
