Day 87. Mid-morning, The drones came first.
Not as surveillance anymore but as active threat platforms. Six of them descended in a coordinated pattern around Zone 18, taking positions that bracketed every known exit from the ruin system. Owen felt them through the wards, felt the pressure of their scanning arrays pushing against Gorvax's protections. The wards held, but barely — the drones were not trying to be gentle.
"They're attempting to drive you out," Gorvax said from deeper in the chamber. "The Tribunal wants you in open ground where the leaderboard hunters can engage."
"Or they're setting up a perimeter for something else."
As if in answer, the broadcast came through. The same neutral administrative voice, but there was something different in its tone now. Urgency. Or the appearance of it.
