Night settled fully over the sealed residence. The two on watch rotated without comment. The others rested in the upper rooms and the long living area, the network still open at absolute saturation. Outside the wards the city continued under its normal cycle. Inside, the eight of them existed as a single closed system that had already survived an S-rank trial and two clean contracts under permanent status.
Trevor remained in the main room after the final gear check. He opened the private system interface and reviewed the cumulative data one more time. Network Synchronization sat at one hundred percent. Mark Depth remained at the absolute ceiling the system allowed under current conditions. The eastern sector run waited at first light. Iron Veil was shifting toward direct pressure. The Hunters organization was still searching for leverage that no longer existed. Something older continued to stir in the scars beyond the wards.
