“You shouldn’t be here.”
Now it was gone.
Kai clicked "ENTER THE DESCENT."
His heart slammed against his ribs. For six months, the school’s firewall had held. For six months, the descent had been locked.
And somewhere, deep in the static of the world, the descent was still falling—unblocked, and waiting.
When Kai opened his eyes, his room was dark. His laptop was dead. But on his palm, faintly glowing, was a single word: