The wind howled as Rae and Rin scaled the base of the Incheon signal tower. The structure groaned beneath a heavy fog, its sleek panels pulsing with hostile energy.

Laser turrets activated. Drones moved in erratic patterns.

"Sensors are targeting everything above ground level," Rin muttered, eyes scanning. "No way to sneak past this one."

Rae cracked her knuckles. "Good. We go loud."

She launched herself into the air, drawing fire. Drones pivoted, locking on. Rin dove to the side, tossing scramblers that burst into static clouds.

In a flash, Rae landed on a drone and tore through it, redirecting its fall into a power conduit. Sparks flew. One turret went dark.

“Two more to go,” Rin called.

She scaled the internal scaffolding, disabling nodes as she moved. Rae fought like lightning, ripping through defenses with unyielding force. Every step brought them higher, closer to the repeater array at the tower’s summit.

From a control room across the city, Seo Jin monitored the feed, eyes narrowing.

“They’re breaching the main array,” her lieutenant said. “Should we purge it?”

Seo Jin shook her head. “Let them come. The final pulse needs direct activation. They’ll do it for us.”

At the top of the tower, wind tearing at their suits, Rae and Rin reached the core terminal. Pulsing with red and black light, it buzzed with malicious potential.

“Disable or destroy?” Rae asked.

Rin hesitated. “It’s synced with every known residual beacon. If we kill it wrong, it could broadcast a fail-safe loop.”

Rae scowled. “So… precision or explosion.”

Then a voice echoed behind them.

“Neither. You walk away.”

Seo Jin stepped from the shadows of the tower’s far platform, a compact transmitter in her hand.

“You destroy this, and I trigger every latent node. Global panic. Think about it—do you want to be the heroes who saved the city, or the ones who doomed the world?”

Rin stood her ground. “You’re bluffing.”

“Try me,” Seo Jin said. “Push one button and this entire tower becomes a transmitter for chaos.”

The air went still.

Then Rae stepped forward.

“You want chaos?” She hurled a compact grenade—not toward the console, but at Seo Jin’s transmitter.

The device sparked, shorted. Seo Jin’s eyes went wide.

“No!”

Rin moved instantly, jamming her override chip into the console. “Cutting all outbound signals—now!”

The tower dimmed. Drones powered down. Screens citywide returned to normal.

The signal was dead.

Seo Jin collapsed to her knees.

“It’s over,” Rin said.

“No,” Rae corrected. “We’re just getting started.”