Boko couldn't decide if that scared her or thrilled her. It mattered only when the League announcer said her name for the finals and the crowd noise swelled like tidewater.

Chapter One — Calibration

Kiera fell, not with the mechanical shudder of a snapped limb but with the slow comprehension of someone who had been surprised by mercy. The arena erupted. Boko's chest hurt with the aftershock of adrenaline and something else—relief, maybe, or a fragile reclaiming.