Isabelle pressed her thumb against the frozen platinum coin, willing it to respond.
Still nothing.
The hold music cut off mid-note.
"This better not be another false alarm." Ginsei's voice carried sharp irritation. "We're already stretched handling the spirit surge—"
"Cyrus Veyr Drakhal has failed to report for seventy-two hours," Isabelle interrupted. "His emergency beacon is offline. Spirit-linked channels are dead."
A keyboard clattered.
"What was his last known location?"
"A private volcanic island in the Pacific. Tiamara Resort"
More typing.
Then Ginsei's breath caught.
"We've been tracking unusual spiritual disturbances around that location for two days. Assumed it was natural volcanic activity interacting with nexus energy."
Isabelle straightened.
"What kind of disturbances?"
"The readings don't resemble ordinary dragonfire," Ginsei admitted. "They show synthetic spirit signatures interwoven with divine energy. The pattern structure—"
