The megacity’s thin places had grown restless. The interventions Yasin and Samira had maintained for weeks were no longer sufficient. Residual attention that had formerly dissipated now palpitated with independent energy, connecting weak thresholds in complex, changeable patterns. Each anomaly carried memory, resonance from previous interventions, and the echo of the Chorus’ influence. Yasin noticed it first in a shelter lair murk that moved against the grain of anticipation, steps repeating in insolvable sequences. He felt the hum swell, threading through his body, a warning that multiple bumps had destabilized contemporaneously. Samira