The intercepted Underworld transmission unfurled across the central projection slate in sharp crimson characters that cast a chilling red glow over the council table.
The demon child sat beneath the pavilion wall and watched the unspooling order, her left wrist pressed tightly against her chest.
Day twenty since the first shield forecast arrived under a pale sky, with exactly eighteen skies remaining upon the administrative slate.
Aria sat before the optical console, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the brass tuning sliders as she decoded the encrypted imperial transmission.
"The transmission originates directly from the Imperial Audit Ministry," she announced in her flattest, most emotionless tone.
"It is a formal harvest order issued to all retrieval units operating within Sector Seven."
A pale translucent status window expanded above the center of the table, displaying the bureaucratic calculations of the imperial courts.
[ Fragment recovery: 45.00% ]
