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 +======   CHAPTER 2 — Insertion   ======
 +
 +The corridor outside the briefing room didn’t change.
 +
 +That was the first thing Mai checked.
 +
 +Not visually — visually everything was identical. Angles, lighting, spacing. Foundation architecture repeated itself with enough precision that deviation was always easier to feel than to see.
 +
 +She walked three steps.
 +
 +Counted.
 +
 +Matched.
 +
 +Correct.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace didn’t count.
 +
 +She watched the intersections.
 +
 +Movement patterns. Sightlines. The way personnel flowed around them without quite acknowledging them. Standard clearance behavior. No hesitation, no deviation.
 +
 +Normal.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy slowed for half a step.
 +
 +Not enough to break formation.
 +
 +Just enough to listen.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It’s ahead,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai didn’t ask what.
 +
 +She already knew the answer.
 +
 +----
 +
 +They reached the lift without being stopped.
 +
 +Of course they did.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The doors opened before anyone touched the panel.
 +
 +Inside, the air felt… heavier.
 +
 +Not in pressure.
 +
 +In intention.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The descent began immediately.
 +
 +----
 +
 +No music.
 +
 +No voice.
 +
 +Just motion.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai tracked the time.
 +
 +Not because she needed to — the system would be precise — but because timing was one of the few anchors that didn’t lie when space did.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Eleven minutes,” she said quietly.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace nodded once.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy leaned back slightly, eyes half-lidded.
 +
 +Listening again.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Less.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The lift didn’t accelerate.
 +
 +Didn’t change.
 +
 +----
 +
 +But something did.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The moment the doors opened, the difference became measurable.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The staging area was active.
 +
 +Teams moving. Equipment checks. Weapons loaded, checked again, cleared. Controlled urgency — not panic, not even stress. Just compression. Everything pushed closer to the point where it would matter.
 +
 +----
 +
 +But underneath it—
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai stopped.
 +
 +Half a step.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace noticed.
 +
 +Immediately.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“What.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai didn’t answer right away.
 +
 +Her gaze moved across the room, not focusing on people, but on space.
 +
 +Distances.
 +
 +Alignment.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It’s off,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace followed her line of sight.
 +
 +Nothing moved incorrectly.
 +
 +No visible distortion.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Where.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Spacing.”
 +
 +A beat.
 +
 +“Between groups.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace watched again.
 +
 +Longer.
 +
 +----
 +
 +There.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Two operators crossing paths.
 +
 +Distance between them—
 +
 +slightly too short.
 +
 +Or too long.
 +
 +It corrected itself as they moved.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Like it hadn’t decided yet.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy exhaled.
 +
 +The air around her flattened, subtly.
 +
 +Stabilized.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It’s not holding,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +No one nearby reacted.
 +
 +They couldn’t feel it.
 +
 +Not yet.
 +
 +----
 +
 +A handler approached.
 +
 +Efficient. Focused.
 +
 +Didn’t waste motion.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Team designation confirmed,” he said. “You’re moving with Secondary Entry.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai nodded.
 +
 +“Vector.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The handler brought up a projection.
 +
 +Minimal.
 +
 +No unnecessary detail.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Lower substructure,” he said. “Ritual activity confirmed below primary access corridors.”
 +
 +A pause.
 +
 +“Primary teams engage from upper levels. You move after breach begins.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Delay?” Mai asked.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Thirty seconds.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace’s expression didn’t change.
 +
 +But that was longer than it should have been.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Why.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Unknown variables.”
 +
 +No hesitation.
 +
 +“Command wants primary disruption first.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +Translation:
 +
 +They didn’t trust the data.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai accepted it.
 +
 +Didn’t agree.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy tilted her head again.
 +
 +Listening deeper this time.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“They’ve already started,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The handler didn’t react.
 +
 +Didn’t understand.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai did.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Define ‘started.’”
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy’s eyes didn’t focus on anything in the room.
 +
 +“They’re not building it.”
 +
 +A beat.
 +
 +“They’re maintaining it.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +That changed the timeline.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai looked back at the projection.
 +
 +The convergence point.
 +
 +Still stable.
 +
 +Still mapped.
 +
 +----
 +
 +But if Shammy was right—
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Then the anchor exists,” Mai said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace’s gaze sharpened.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Then we’re late.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +No one corrected her.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The handler’s comm unit crackled.
 +
 +Brief.
 +
 +Compressed.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Primary teams moving,” he said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Right on schedule.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Too late.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The room shifted again.
 +
 +Not physically.
 +
 +Functionally.
 +
 +----
 +
 +This time, it was noticeable.
 +
 +----
 +
 +A crate near the far wall—
 +
 +its edge didn’t line up with the floor markings.
 +
 +Just for a moment.
 +
 +Then it did.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace saw it.
 +
 +Didn’t comment.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai stepped closer to the projection.
 +
 +Adjusted the scale.
 +
 +Measured again.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The coordinates still held.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Surface consistency degrading,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The handler frowned.
 +
 +Didn’t understand.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Meaning.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It means your map is about to be wrong.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The first impact hit somewhere above them.
 +
 +Muted.
 +
 +Contained.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Primary breach.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The room didn’t shake.
 +
 +It absorbed it.
 +
 +----
 +
 +That was worse.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy’s fingers twitched slightly.
 +
 +Static crackled — soft, almost inaudible.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It’s accelerating,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The projection flickered.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Not a glitch.
 +
 +A correction.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The convergence point shifted—
 +
 +less than a meter.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Then snapped back.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The handler saw that.
 +
 +This time, he reacted.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Update—”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The projection froze.
 +
 +----
 +
 +For half a second.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Then resumed.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai stepped back.
 +
 +Decision made.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“We don’t wait.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The handler hesitated.
 +
 +Protocol.
 +
 +Orders.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace moved.
 +
 +----
 +
 +That decided it.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Go,” the handler said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Too late to enforce anything else.
 +
 +----
 +
 +They moved.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The corridor beyond the staging area was narrower.
 +
 +Lower.
 +
 +Utility architecture.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Lights overhead.
 +
 +Evenly spaced.
 +
 +----
 +
 +At first.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai counted again.
 +
 +----
 +
 +One.
 +
 +Two.
 +
 +Three—
 +
 +----
 +
 +The fourth light was slightly closer than it should have been.
 +
 +----
 +
 +She didn’t stop.
 +
 +Didn’t slow.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace noticed anyway.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Pattern break.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Confirmed,” Mai said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy’s voice was quieter now.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It’s pulling.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Where,” Ace asked.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy didn’t answer immediately.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Then:
 +
 +“Not forward.”
 +
 +A beat.
 +
 +“Everywhere.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +That was worse.
 +
 +----
 +
 +They reached the access point.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Door already open.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Not forced.
 +
 +Not breached.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Just…
 +
 +open.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace paused at the threshold.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Not hesitation.
 +
 +Measurement.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai checked the frame.
 +
 +Alignment.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Wrong.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Not visibly.
 +
 +----
 +
 +But enough.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“Anchor is below,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy stepped closer.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The air shifted again.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Stronger this time.
 +
 +----
 +
 +“It’s deeper than that,” she said.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace stepped through.
 +
 +----
 +
 +No waiting.
 +
 +----
 +
 +No signal.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai followed.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Shammy last.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Behind them, the corridor remained exactly as it had been.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ahead—
 +
 +----
 +
 +It didn’t quite decide what it was yet.
 +
 +----
 +
 +And somewhere below, something was already holding itself together—
 +
 +----
 +
 +just well enough
 +
 +to break.
 +