Third-Person POV
The city shifted beneath the weight of unseen hands. The monitors flickered violently, each screen pulsing with data that seemed almost alive. Every node, every micro-adjustment, every ripple in traffic, communications, and energy grids was now part of a larger pattern, a pattern that only the fourth vector fully understood.
Inside the monitoring room, tension hung thick as smoke. Meadow's eyes scanned the network map with laser focus. Fingers hovered over the touchscreen, ready to reroute, adjust, or stabilize. Every pulse across the city was a potential hazard, and one miscalculation could cascade into chaos.
Alaric stood beside her, his eyes tracking anomalies as they emerged. Even without direct control over some of the primary nodes, he was a pillar of calm. His presence grounded the team, a silent reassurance that despite the fourth vector's dominance, they were not powerless.
