Friya overrode the safety locks and plunged her hand into the holographic field. Her fingers tingled as they passed through light, touching the cold surface of the real ruby still sitting in the material tray below. But the ghost-image remained wrapped around her knuckles.
The room darkened. The diamond lenses spun backward, faster and faster, until they screamed. Then, silence.
"Matrix," Friya said, her voice steady. "Run protocol Dawnhold. Authorization: FRI-7."
The ruby’s interior swirled. A tiny, perfect glyph appeared: .
The King’s inspectors would arrive at dawn to collect the final design.
"That’s not a flaw," she whispered. "That’s a signature."
The sphere rotated. A single ruby, the size of her thumbnail, flared to life in midair. It was perfect—no, it was too perfect. The Matrix’s simulated light bent around it in a way that violated known optics.
Friya overrode the safety locks and plunged her hand into the holographic field. Her fingers tingled as they passed through light, touching the cold surface of the real ruby still sitting in the material tray below. But the ghost-image remained wrapped around her knuckles.
The room darkened. The diamond lenses spun backward, faster and faster, until they screamed. Then, silence.
"Matrix," Friya said, her voice steady. "Run protocol Dawnhold. Authorization: FRI-7."
The ruby’s interior swirled. A tiny, perfect glyph appeared: .
The King’s inspectors would arrive at dawn to collect the final design.
"That’s not a flaw," she whispered. "That’s a signature."
The sphere rotated. A single ruby, the size of her thumbnail, flared to life in midair. It was perfect—no, it was too perfect. The Matrix’s simulated light bent around it in a way that violated known optics.