7th January, 2032.
The clock crawled toward midnight in Shanghai.
Outside, the city breathed its usual rhythm, horns in the distance, faint neon hums, laughter spilling from some nightclub far down the street.
Yet far away, in a room across another continent, time itself slowed.
The chamber was wide, its wooden floor polished smooth, lantern-light throwing gold across the walls. Scrolls of campaigns and diagrams of siege machines lay scattered on the board between two women.
Velkhara Umbra sat barefoot, lazily sprawled on the cushions. She never cared much for clothing, tonight just a strip of white cloth wound around her curves, leaving pale shoulders bare, a neckline too loose to be an accident.
She was explaining the difference between feints and ambushes, her voice tense… when it stopped.
"Umm…?"
Ning Xue tilted her head, quill pausing mid-stroke. She had been jotting down notes, brow furrowed over the diagrams on the board, when silence pressed too hard.
