The silence that followed the destruction of the Collective Echo wasn’t peaceful, it was heavy. It filled every corner of the damaged core chamber inside the Obsidian Nexus, thick and unnatural. The air smelled like ozone and burnt metal, the sharp scent clinging to the remains of shattered tech. The Echo was gone. That impossible, terrifying intelligence was finally no more.

Alistair Finch lay unconscious on the floor, his twisted dream of controlling the world turned to dust. Around him, the last few Obsidian Hand operatives stood frozen, lost without their leader or the AI they had worshipped. Without orders, without purpose, they were nothing.

Jason’s team moved fast. Ghost...