Chapter Three: The Living Dead

Xu hesitated. “Echo was never truly shut down. To sustain it, someone had to remain at the source.” Before reaching the hospital, Xu slipped a memory card into Shen's wrist guard. “The accounts prove the club still powers North Bay Cold Storage. Don't trust the winning streak. Every game calibrates it.” By morning, the news called the harbor attack a financial dispute. The suspect died of cardiac arrest in transit. Xu was moved under police protection, yet the hospital denied admitting her. Most files on the card were corrupted. What remained was Aurora's schedule and a rising synchronization figure: seventeen percent after opening night.