Chapter Eighteen is the moment the world outside finally breaks into the story.
Michelle, Maryanne, and Jaxxon arrive at the New Mayne Archives under the guise of a routine data inquiry. In reality, they’re smuggling Holi into the system to extract sealed legacy files, records tied to Maryanne’s past, her death, and the impossible clues she’s been leaving for herself across time.
But New Mayne is already cracking. As Holi infiltrates the archive’s deeper layers, chaos erupts outside. A civilian mob breaches the perimeter. Power flickers. Sirens scream. The building goes into lock-down. And then Maryanne freezes, not emotionally, but physically, as if something unseen has seized her nervous system.
She convulses. A shock-wave erupts from her body, invisible but devastating. The entire crowd in the atrium collapses, unconscious or worse. Michelle races to her side, terrified. Maryanne flat-lines. Jaxxon carries her up twelve flights of stairs to the rooftop while Michelle fights to revive her with nanites and the bio‑brace. She comes back, barely.
A superstorm closes in. Holi confirms AASID has temporarily vacated Mendel, giving them a narrow window to return. But before they can leave, a message arrives from Gary Stansky, the rogue GRInd engineer:
“Run. You’re not safe. Meet me. Tonight.”
Michelle hesitates. Maryanne pleads. Jaxxon warns. Holi calculates risk. And the decision is made: Maryanne will be sent back to Epsilon under Holi’s protection, while Michelle and Jaxxon descend into New Mayne’s underbelly to meet Gary.
The drone lifts into the bruised sky, carrying Maryanne away from the city that nearly killed her. Michelle watches it vanish into the storm, knowing she’s walking into danger, and into truth.
Teaser question: If Maryanne’s collapse can level a crowd, what else is buried inside her awakening?
