The air hung heavy that morning.
It was too still for summer.
The breeze that usually swept through the city's hills had vanished, and with it came an oppressive heat that settled over the rooftops like a smothering cloth.
Julius stood on the marble balcony of the Domus Aurea, staring down into the cityscape of ancient Rome.
The illusion was flawless — every cobbled street, every rooftop tile.
He'd lived this simulation before in Imperator, but never like this, only ever seeing the scene through his monitor but now he was seeing it quite literally in person.
This was his breath misting against the stone.
His eyes watching the horizon.
And his stomach sinking as a column of smoke, thin and black, rose beyond the Aventine Hill.
It had begun.
He turned sharply.
"Summon the Urban Cohorts. All of them. And fetch the governor of the Vigiles immediately."
