The metallic hum coming from within the forest began at first like the thin sound of an insect. Then the air between the trees changed. The moisture on the leaves trembled, small stones inside the soil shifted slightly, and the broken ring on Elara's wrist began to pulse like a cold heartbeat. This was no longer only a sound coming from far away. Something was searching for them. And Elara understood at once that even though they had left the archive, they had not escaped the trace it had left on them.
Kael stepped forward, but this time he did not try to place Elara behind him. He only stood on her left. His shoulders were tense, the muscles in his neck defined, and his gaze was fixed on the dark line where the gray road ended. "That is the World Government's scanning sound," he said. "I heard it before on the outer line of the facility."
