CHAPTER 2 - SECTOR 41
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Location: Sector 41 - Former Archive Facility, Urban Edge Zone
Timeline: 3927 AE/AD
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Neon signs flickered far above, painting the smog in bruised purple and electric blue. The facility sat in the shadow of a collapsed transit spire - low, windowless, silent. No guards. No lights. A silence so complete it felt like holding its breath.
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Lyra moved through the perimeter gate - black-silver suit blending with the dark, sensors sweeping ahead.
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SANXXX:
[over comms]
"Perimeter clear. But security feed went dark ninety minutes ago - manually disabled."
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LYRA:
"Someone was here. Recently."
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She reached the main vault entrance. The heavy blast door stood ajar - forced, then left half-open. Dust motes hung in the faint glow from within.
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RAVEN:
[over comms]
"Lyra, be advised - structural integrity is degrading. Don't stay longer than necessary."
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Inside, rows of server towers hummed low in the dark. At the far end, one terminal glowed - its screen active, its keyboard still warm.
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PIXEL:
[over comms]
"I'm picking up residual data... massive transfer, completed roughly two hours ago."
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ECHO:
[over comms]
"Satellite just picked up a vehicle leaving the zone - heading north, fast."
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Lyra stepped closer to the glowing terminal. The screen was blank - except for one file icon, unlabeled, pulsing slowly. And carved faintly into the casing below it - barely visible - was a simple outline: a rabbit.
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Her breath caught. She did not know why.
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LYRA:
"There's a mark here. Carved into the metal."
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MIKA:
[over comms]
「どんな形ですか？詳しく教えてください。」
"What shape is it? Please describe it fully."
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LYRA:
"Small. Simple outline. A rabbit."
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Silence filled the comms line - long enough to feel heavy.
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MIKA:
[over comms]
「...わかりました。調べてみます。」
"...I see. I will look into it."
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SANXXX:
[over comms - voice tight]
"Lyra - copy the file. Secure the drive. We're pulling you out. Now."
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LYRA:
"You recognize it."
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SANXXX:
"I said - extract."
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She hesitated, then plugged in the retrieval drive. The unlabeled file began to copy - slow, line by line. Before it finished, a warning flashed across her display: ACCESS TERMINATED - REMOTE WIPE INITIATED.
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PIXEL:
[over comms]
"They're deleting it from the outside! Lyra, get out -"
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The terminal went dark. Only the carved rabbit remained.
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LYRA:
"File partially lost. But I saw enough. It contained names - dates - and a designation: LYRA-002."
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and then Add to home screen.