There was no explosion.
There was no sound.
One moment the corridor hummed with energy, and the next it vanished like someone had pulled the power cord from the world.
Every screen went black.
Every light died.
The air felt empty.
Sarya stood frozen, her hand still pressed to the stabilizer device.
The mark on her skin was gone.
Not dim.
Not faint.
Just... gone.
Kael grabbed her shoulders. "Sarya."
She blinked slowly.
"I can't feel it."
Her voice sounded distant, even to herself.
Elira tapped at her console. Nothing responded. The systems were offline.
"The corridor frequency dropped to zero," Elira whispered. "It's completely silent."
Sereth did not appear.
There was no projection.
No connection.
Hollen's voice cut in faintly through a backup channel. "What happened? We just lost all readings."
Sarya looked down at her hand again.
The skin was smooth.
Normal.
She felt lighter.
And somehow colder.
"I think I severed it," she said quietly.
