Chapter 12 · The Ash Ledger - Chapter 12: Three Hours to Burn

The core room smelled like burnt metal and old blood. Rowan pressed his back against the doorframe, breathing hard. Mara was already inside, crouched next to a console that looked like someone had built it out of broken clocks and spite.

"Three hours," she said without looking up. "That's what your mark says, right?"

Rowan glanced at his wrist. The black ring pulsed once. 2:47:13. 2:47:12. "Yeah."

"Then we don't have time for you to stand there like an idiot."

He crossed the room. The core sat in the center, a sphere of dirty light wrapped in wire. It hummed. Not a machine hum. Something alive. Something waiting.

Mara's fingers moved across the console. "This is old protocol. First-gen Ledger code. Whoever built this didn't want it shut down easy."

"Can you do it?"

"I can try." She yanked a wire free and the core flared bright. The hum got louder. "Or I can make it worse. Fifty-fifty."

Rowan's mark burned. He hissed through his teeth. New text crawled up his forearm: COOPERATIVE UNLOCK AVAILABLE. SKILL: TACTICAL OVERRIDE. COST: MUTUAL CONTACT WITH SECONDARY BEARER.

"You seeing this?" he asked.

Mara held up her wrist. Same text. Same burn. "Yeah.