The Giant took one step forward.
The stadium shook. The faceless crowd in the stands turned their blank heads to follow it. The silver-green threads pulsing through its body flickered like a heartbeat.
"YOU."
It pointed at Goliath.
"YOU TOUCHED THEM. YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME."
Goliath didn't run. He didn't raise his weapon. He just stood there, staring up at the thing he'd been trying to create.
"I didn't take anything," he said. "I harvested. That's what the Tower does. That's what the system does. I just sped it up."
The Giant tilted its head. Its blank face rippled.
"HARVESTED."
The word came out wrong. Twisted. Like it was tasting something rotten.
"YOU TOOK THEM BEFORE THEY WERE DONE. BEFORE THEY WERE RIPE. YOU STOLE THEIR MEMORIES BEFORE THE FORGE COULD USE THEM."
"What does that even mean?" Dillon whispered.
Smithy was already writing. "I think it means the Tower has a process. The Giant is part of it. Goliath's device disrupted the process."
