. No attachment. No regret. Just

lined streets. Manicured

card holding less than five hundred dollars-her entire

June studied

ines. The city grid rad

stop

ew thi

y memories. This knowledge was old

arter to the south. The financial towers to the east. The gri

e world she had naviga

her old world

ng she had learned as Aurora-every contact, every passwor

through her veins. A cold, sharp

starting f

erground antique market in Blackwood. The

raffiti, June closed her eyes, sifting through Aurora's knowledge: ancie

damp pavement and rotting garbage. She navigated the labyrinth

d laundromat. Right

tooed man sat behind the counter. His eyes dragged over her thin

his stare and spoke a pa

ee the Old Man

enuine shock. He squinted, re-evaluating her, th

sparked through her. Some

ed down into the muffled sounds of a hid

e. Rows of stalls stretched under dim bulbs, piled with chaotic

She moved through the aisles, scanning the tables. Mos

ting the instincts that

el, a man in a tailored black suit watch

d nearby. "Mr. Bryant, the marke

nswer. His attention

raight, her gait unhurried. She didn't glance ar

rest, a habit that surfaced only whe

his gaze. "A

eyes. The girl had stopped at a stall piled with miscellaneous ju

discarding. It looked like idle curiosity. But Jase c

rd. "Run a chec

ir

variables on

nt." Leo pulle

closed around something small and

me and corrosion. Al

fic weight. The unique tex

bs-the only sign of excitement she allowed hersel

nd

. Her mind already calculating the negot

room, Jase watched h

ne smile touc

urious about how t