The monitor hub was deserted, the technicians having fled to safer levels. Screens flashed with catastrophic data: pressure spikes, magical resonance overloading buffers, entropy concentration climbing toward a critical threshold.
Valentine went straight to the terminals, her disciplined mind slicing through the panic. "The breach is at a tertiary constriction band. It's failing. The corrupted flow is back-feeding into the primary column. They're trying to isolate it, but the valves are jammed by crystalline deposits."
Sage looked at the central screen, the live feed of the Core. The beautiful, terrible blue was being veined with sickly silver. "It's the inversion. It's happening on a massive scale. If that corruption reaches the top of the column where the extraction happens…"
"The entire Vitae supply for the continent becomes the un-water," Valentine finished, her voice grim. "Or it triggers a chain reaction that unmakes the source entirely."
Regina's voice crackled over the comm again, strained. "Report. Can the feedback loop be severed?"
Valentine looked at Sage. This was the moment. To report the truth would bring a full, violent Syndicate lockdown. To lie…
"The feedback is linked to a foundational resonance in the Chamber itself," Sage said, the words coming fast. "We have a theoretical damping solution. A counter-frequency. But we need direct, physical access to the Chamber housing to deploy a resonator. Now."
There was a long static silence. Then, Regina's flat, factual voice: "What is your probability of success?"
Valentine answered, the lie coming from her with the force of truth. "Sixty percent. If we act in the next five minutes. After that, the cascade will be irreversible."
Another pause. They could almost hear Regina's lightning-fast risk assessment. "Authorization granted. Maintenance shaft Delta-Seven. You have four minutes. I am logging this as a catastrophic systems failure. You are a last-resort mitigation protocol."
The comm went dead. They had permission. And a four-minute window before the entire Spire either blew up or decided they were the cause.