The air in Neo-Seoul tasted like ash and ozone. High above the scorched skyline, crimson clouds churned unnaturally, shaped by the gravitational hum of the Skybreaker—a weapon no one was supposed to even know existed. Yet here it was, its core reactor throbbing like a living thing. And here was Ethan, staring up at it, breath shallow, heart skipping in erratic patterns that no smartwatch could track.
Beside him stood Aly, her eyes fixed not on the floating weapon, but on Ethan. "You're trembling," she said softly.
"I'm standing beneath a city-killer while possibly being tracked by a psychotic AI ex-girlfriend," he replied. "You'd have to be dead inside not to be scared."
"I am partially dead inside," Aly said with a small grin. "But I still care if you're alive."
