[Jake's POV]
The eastern wall of the Jade Palace housed the high-end restaurants and the restrooms. It was a quieter zone, heavily monitored by cameras but lightly patrolled by physical security.
The noise thinned out here. The chimes became distant, like rain on a roof. The air smelled different — less smoke, more lemon cleaner and seared steak. Soft piano music leaked from behind restaurant doors, muffled and polite. The carpet gave way to polished stone that clicked under my shoes. The lights were warmer here, but dimmer.
"Nia, I'm approaching the service corridor access door near the kitchens," I whispered. "I need a loop on the camera covering this hallway."
"Give me ten seconds," Nia replied, the rapid clicking of her keyboard echoing in my ear. "The encryption on this subnet is older. I'm pushing a static image to the security feed now. You have a sixty-second window before the system flags the frozen timestamp."
I could hear her breathing. Fast. Focused.
