Her mates agreed with Samantha. They had information now. Allies. Plans. The Archive might be watching, the Architect might be plotting, but they weren't facing it blind and unprepared anymore.
The evening settled into focused activity—Marcus buried in Archive files, his reading creating a soft rustle of virtual pages, Callum reinforcing wards with meticulous precision, and Kai sprawled on the couch pretending to help while actually just providing running commentary.
"Did you know," Kai announced, reading over Marcus's shoulder, "that the Architect once tried to integrate an entire dragon clan and they literally burned themselves to ash rather than comply? That's simultaneously the most badass and most depressing thing I've read today."
"It's also strategic intelligence," Marcus replied without looking up. "The Architect can be resisted through complete magical burnout. Scorched earth tactics work. Not ideal, but good to know."
