[POV: Lyon Monroe]

"Don't touch that console, Alistair! If the encryption is linked to their neural network, simply making contact with the interface could trigger a bio-pulse that fries your brain before you can even see the login screen. Sofia, get back. There is something fundamentally wrong with the way these readings are fluctuating. This isn't just a data stream; it's a goddamn broadcast of biological instructions."

Lyon's voice was a low, vibrating growl that cut through the sterile hum of the Northern warship's secondary control hub. He stood with his feet planted wide, his hand resting on the hilt of a pulse-blade he had liberated from a fallen Sentinel....