Tal had never noticed how loud doors were until they were the only sound left.
The district had gone quiet in stages.
First the feeds slowed notifications arriving out of order, comments freezing mid‑insult, Rin's last message stuck on "sending." Then the street noise thinned as people obeyed the urgent whispers and pulled their kids inside. Even the drones changed pitch, their usual whine replaced by a deeper hum that set Tal's teeth on edge.
By the time the first boot hit the ground floor of his building, Twelve‑Lower was holding its breath.
Tal sat on the third‑floor landing with Jesen, Nia, and Rell, backs to the wall, listening.
"Remember," he said. "No stairwell meetings. No crowds. We keep people in doorways, not hallways. One family at a time."
"That worked great at the panel," Jesen muttered.
"It worked better than a riot," Tal said.
He wasn't sure he believed it anymore.
