Memory Market 3

The city feels different now. Not louder—closer. Like everything is tightening around you. Drones sweep overhead in slow, searching patterns. Streetlights flicker as systems strain to keep up with something they don’t understand. The device pulses in your hand. Not random. Not broken. Waiting. Kael Mercer stays close beside you, his movements sharper now—more deliberate. He doesn’t look back often. He doesn’t need to. “They’re tracking us,” he says quietly. “Both of them.” A pause. Then— “…Ghostline’s buying us time.” As if on cue, a nearby security camera glitches, its lens snapping away from you. A patrol drone shifts course mid-air. A voice cuts through your comm, distorted but steady: “Path’s open. Not for long.” The city bends just enough to let you move. But it won’t last. The device pulses again— and suddenly— you feel it. Not fear. Not danger. Something else. An ending. Kael’s hand brushes yours for just a second—not pulling, not forcing. Grounding. “…We’re close,” he says. And whatever this is— it’s almost over.