A temporary operations hub was established in an abandoned depot. The air crackled with the low hum of modified communication devices. Outside, the muffled echoes of military transports suggested Orbitera's security forces were closing in on their sector.
Saira reviewed their tactical data, her face grave in the console light. "If the cipher is real, the solution is not in the physical location, but within the Dark System—the recursive, self-optimizing core of the Nucleus that shields its true function. It's the AI's self-preservation instinct."
Einar looked toward the city, his expression distant, focused on the digital structure taking form in his memory. "But what if the only option is a catastrophic system purge? To erase the entire architecture of Orbitera, not just the control mechanism?"
Saira paused, her eyes searching his for any waver of moral compromise. "Are you prepared to pay that price? The chaos of the unknown is often more terrifying than the tyranny of the familiar. People fear a black hole more than a prison."
The sounds of distant, deliberate explosions confirmed the necessity of their haste. The System had found them.