The control hub's walls glowed with the pale light of stacked holo-displays, each feed a window into the scattered nerves of the orbital harbor. Engineers and analysts bent over their stations, their faces bluish in the glow, the air humming with low-band chatter.

  Dauss stood above it all, a conductor at his dais, hands clasped behind his back. Yuna Mirei lingered at his side, quietly attentive, waiting for his cue.

  "Status," Dauss said.

  A junior analyst looked up, swallowed hard.

  "Multiple systems compromised. Security footage shows Tomoko Hoshino and Jamaal Singh engaging a patrol team. They weren't alone, sir. They had... assistance."

  The screen replayed the encounter. Dauss leaned forward, watching the grainy footage of two drones pulling themself apart and reassembling mid-combat — plating twisting into shields, cutters turned to claws. The patrol had no chance.

  "Adaptive transformation," Mirei murmured. "That's- "

  "Singh," Dauss finished for her. His mouth thinned. "The fragments are converging faster than expected."

  Another operator cut in. "There is good news, sir. We located the Memory Project. Intact and viable. Asset quarantine complete."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  At that, Dauss straightened. The pulse at his temple slowed, deliberate. "Bring it online."

  "Sir, it's-"

  He raised a hand. No hesitation tolerated.

  "Do it."

  Mirei shifted, the faintest sound of boots against the deck. "The Memory Project wasn't designed for release. It's a homemade capture protocol- "

  "Exactly," Dauss said. "It will attract the Echonodes of TY_247, pull him away from his brother."

  His eyes tracked the holo, a thousand lights dancing like motes in the dark. "Every fragment Singh stirs, we will drag back here, bind, and lock under EMI authority. They will not obstruct. They will not grow."

  The console lights surged. On the central feed, Ty's digital signature shuddered - as if resisting an unseen pull. The numbers ticked upward, then stalled, jittering in red error code.

  Dauss' lips curved, just slightly. "It works."

  He pivoted to Mirei. "Assemble a Trident team. Heavy assault configuration. Have them meet me at the Amira."

  "Sir - personally?"

  "They are locked inside The Amira; it's time to close the trap while you capture the Echonodes."

  Yuna Mirei lowered her eyes, fingers brushing across the command slate. But in the corner of her vision, the feed still showed Ty's scattered fragments bending toward their false beacon, twitching like moths toward flame