Chapter 103

The basement level of Kane Industries glowed with harsh fluorescent light at two in the morning. While most of the building sat dark and empty, the engineering lab hummed with tense activity. Sheets of blueprints covered every surface. Monitors displayed complex circuit diagrams and safety protocols. The air smelled of coffee and stress.

Hannah Zhao stood at the center of it all, hair pulled back in a messy bun, dark circles under her eyes. She hadn’t gone home in thirty-six hours. Neither had the six engineers she’d personally selected for this shadow team, the only people besides Camille, Alexander, and Victoria who knew about the sabotage of the Phoenix Grid.

“Li, what’s the status on the junction box rewiring?” Hannah asked, not looking up from the circuit board she was examining through a magnifying glass.

Li, a thin man with wire-rimmed glasses, didn’t pause his typing. “Schematics complete. I’ve isolated all fourteen tampered triggers and recalibrated them t