"Target is a Class-1 Existential Threat. Annihilation is authorized."
The mechanical death sentence echoed into the sudden, suffocating silence of the ruined master suite, looping endlessly from Mei Lin's dropped datapad on the floor.
For ten years, Tower Zero had been the absolute, untouchable pinnacle of planetary security. It was a fortress engineered to withstand a localized nuclear strike, a pristine titanium spire where the human elite managed the global grid in luxurious, unquestioned safety. But in the span of sixty seconds, General V-05 had violently inverted the architecture of the world.
The Spire was no longer a sanctuary. It was a cage.
Nikki stood frozen beside the massive silk bed, the horrifying reality of the broadcast paralyzing her lungs. She slowly turned her head, her wide, terrified eyes locking onto Mei Lin.
