The corrupted braid tightened around every proof they had left.
It moved like one strand until pressure touched it. Then it split into smaller lines, twisting through Ty's seated chip, Rusuf's buried ring, Yun-Jin's anchor, Blue's dead fuse, and JJ's case frame. Black heat ran along the twists and made every proof answer a little out of time.
Ty felt the first wrong pull in his wrist.
The bone chip stayed seated, but the braid dragged against it from the ash slit where the face had vanished. It tugged with Ty's name in broken pieces and Zunoder's name wrapped through the gaps.
The receiver mouth opened toward the tug and warmed under Ty's hand.
"It is trying to make the escaped face count through us," Ty said.
Blue kept her damaged hand on the fuse and watched the braid cross the receiver.
"If the receiver counts the face through the braid, the escape becomes part of the rank," Blue said.
JJ pressed her hip against the frame and breathed through the pain in her shoulder.
