THE SAFE house alarm stayed quiet.
That was how they knew the thing outside was old.
New enemies hit the door, the cameras, the grid, the locks, the legal shell around the building. Old things came through the spaces people had forgotten to name.
The foundation witness lifted its head from beside Hiro's cot.
Caleb set the bowl down.
Sam closed the Record with one finger still marking the page.
"Where?" Tali asked.
The witness pointed toward the back courtyard.
Rain tapped against the kitchen window. The city still shouted beyond the walls, but here the sound thinned into gutter water, tired sirens, and the clock on the stove counting seconds like it had no opinion about war.
Caleb stood.
No one told him to wait.
That mattered.
They came with him anyway.
