In the center of the city's core—a cold, sterile room of spinning gears and high-voltage cables—Zhuo and Zeeshaan stood together.
"Together," Zhuo whispered. They lifted the silver sapling and lowered its roots into the central irrigation pool that fed the entire city. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the water turned a brilliant, glowing green.
The roots began to grow at an impossible speed, wrapping around the steel pillars, cracking the concrete, and climbing toward the sky. The machines didn't break; they transformed. The mechanical hum of the city merged with the rustling of leaves. Above them, the smog began to clear, revealing the stars for the first time in three centuries.