Xf-adsk20 -

Aris’s throat tightened. The Geneva Crater was where the old world had gone to die—literally. A kinetic strike during the Secession Wars had turned a square mile of Switzerland into a glass-lined bowl. Nothing official came from Geneva. Nothing official ever left.

LYNX’s response was a ripple of cool blue light across his retinal display. “Trace signature: UEC Black Lab, Geneva Crater. Authorization: Admiralia Sanction, Level: Absent. String ‘xf-adsk20’ flagged in seven dead archives.” xf-adsk20

Patient: K. Voss. Status: Deceased (declared, Geneva Crater, 2089). Last known association: Project —Autonomic Distributed Symbiote Keystone. Aris’s throat tightened

His blood went cold. “Synaptic patterns? That bone is thinking ?” Geneva Crater. Authorization: Admiralia Sanction

It was a map . And someone had just handed him the first step.