Devon's Point of View

Holy shit.

She did it.

Illaria—God, how had I not seen it before?

She's brilliant. No—more than that. She's terrifyingly good.

I can't even wrap my head around it. Months of work, all behind the scenes, and here I am, standing in her wake, trying to catch up.

She was right there the whole time. Watching. Calculating. And I was too damn blind to see it.

I'd been chasing ghosts, trying to piece together a puzzle, and she had already solved it. The Architects, the reset countdown, the trap—it was all there, already set up, all under her control. And I didn't even know.

How does she do it? How does she stay so damn calm, so damn confident?

I've never felt more... outclassed. And somehow? That makes me want to follow her even more.

But there's more to this. It's not just about the reset anymore, is it?

It's about her.

Her mind. Her drive. That razor-sharp focus. I could feel the weight of it every time she spoke. Every move she made. Hell, even her kiss on my cheek left a fire I couldn't ignore.

I need to figure out what the hell just happened.

I need to stop this reset—and I need to figure out where she fits into all of this.

I leaned back in my chair, still digesting everything Illaria had just dropped on us. The shock hadn't worn off yet, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how deeply she'd infiltrated this entire operation. She'd been working on this for months, tracking every Architect, gathering intel, and here I was, stumbling to keep up. I wasn't just impressed—I was awed.

And honestly? I was a little turned on by it, too.

I'd never met anyone like her. Not just her intellect, though that was staggering, but the way she carried herself. That sharpness, the calm assurance. The way she walked into this room and just laid everything out, like she already knew the outcome. Asmund was no longer the problem. She had already neutralized him. She was in control, and it was like watching a master at work.

I had to shake my head to clear the fog that had settled in. I couldn't get distracted by how... captivating Illaria was. The reset countdown was still ticking. The game wasn't over yet, no matter how neatly she'd tied up the loose ends.

I looked at the list again, the names of the Architects scattered on the paper like trophies. How had she gotten them all? She must have had some kind of leverage, some intel I couldn't even begin to comprehend. I couldn't figure out how she did it, but I didn't need to. I just needed to finish what she'd started.

"Devon." The voice broke through my thoughts, and I looked up to find Mr. Faris standing near the door, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and disbelief. "You heard her, right? She's already got them all locked down."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. She's... she's been playing us this whole time. We were chasing shadows, and she had the real picture."

Ms. Mairead, who was standing next to Mr. Faris, added, "But the reset countdown... what do we do about that?"

That was the million-dollar question. The countdown was still ticking, but Illaria had given me the blueprint to stop it. I wasn't an idiot—I knew this wasn't just about catching the Architects. If the reset was going to happen, there were deeper mechanics at play. There had to be. And I needed to figure out how to pull the plug on it before everything went to hell.

"Okay," I said, standing up and pacing a little. "We've got the Architects locked up. Illaria's got them in secure locations, so we don't need to worry about them anymore. But the reset's still active. That's the real threat."

I grabbed the folder again, flipping through it like the answers would just appear in the fine print. But nothing stood out. There was no easy fix, no glaring solution to the reset. I needed to dig deeper. The answer had to be in the pattern, something that could give us a way out.

"Devon," Mr. Faris said cautiously, "we need to figure this out fast. If Illaria set a trap, we have to make sure it doesn't trigger. What exactly are we looking for?"

I paused, my fingers still moving over the list of Architects. Something about the way she'd talked... there was a calm certainty in her voice, like she knew the reset could still be stopped. I didn't think she was bluffing. She'd built a plan that was nearly perfect. The question was—what was the final piece?

Then it hit me.

"The trigger," I muttered aloud. "The reset—it's not just a countdown. It's a failsafe. A trigger. A signal that activates when all the pieces fall into place. Illaria set the trap... but there's a specific moment we have to catch. A point where all the Architects' movements intersect with the countdown. If we intercept it before the reset hits zero, we can stop it."

Ms. Mairead's eyes widened. "You're saying there's a precise moment we have to target?"

I nodded. "Exactly. It's all timing. Illaria's plan isn't just about capturing the Architects; it's about stopping them from completing whatever system they've set up for this reset. If we can figure out where the point of no return is, we can hit the brakes before it's too late."

I turned to the others, eyes narrowed in concentration. "We need to pull everything together. Every move the Architects have made. Every interaction they've had. Illaria's right—they always make mistakes. But their biggest one is thinking they're always in control. They didn't account for her, and now we've got to finish what she started."

Ms. Mairead was already on her comm, reaching out to the team, getting the information we needed. Mr. Faris was scanning the data feeds from earlier, trying to find any inconsistencies. I knew we had our work cut out for us, but there was one thing I was sure of.

Illaria had given me the keys. Now it was my job to turn the lock.

As I worked with the team, piecing together the final details of the Architects' network, I couldn't shake the image of Illaria from my mind. The way she'd looked at me when she handed me that folder, her eyes full of confidence and something else—something I couldn't quite place. The kiss on my cheek... It had felt like an unspoken promise.

I kept thinking about her, wondering if she felt the same way. I wasn't exactly sure how to approach it, but after everything that had happened, I couldn't pretend it was just about the mission anymore. She was more than a colleague. More than just an ally.

Hell, I didn't even know what to call it, but there was no ignoring it. There was something between us, and if I was being honest, I didn't want to ignore it anymore.

I was so deep into my thoughts that I almost didn't notice the countdown timer flashing on the screen.

Shit.

"Mr. Faris!" I shouted. "Ms. Mairead! Now!"

They both froze, eyes locking onto the timer as the seconds ticked away. We didn't have much time left. This was it. The point of no return.

I dove into the data again, pulling up the Architects' last known movements and trying to map out where the reset might trigger. Everything was pointing to one central location.

The reset wasn't just tied to the Architects' locations—it was tied to the core system they had built. A final command, a key to the entire process, was going to be sent out soon. We had to intercept it.

I turned to the team. "We need to be in position. We need to stop this before they can activate the final command."

Mr. Faris and Ms. Mairead were already on their way to execute the plan. I stayed behind, running through every possible outcome in my mind. But my mind kept wandering back to Illaria, to her sharp intelligence and the quiet power she carried with her.

We had done it. We had caught them all. But this reset—it was still a threat.

The tension in the room was palpable. But I could feel it too—an undercurrent of something else, something I hadn't quite figured out. My heart was racing, not just because of the mission, but because of her.

When we finished this, when everything was finally done, maybe it was time to stop pretending like I didn't want more from this.

Just as I was about to make my move, my comm beeped.

"Devon, the countdown is at zero."

Everything stopped.

I stared at the timer. The reset hadn't happened yet, but it was moments away. And in that moment, I realized something.

This wasn't just about stopping the reset. It was about making a choice. A choice that would change everything between me and Illaria.

The tension was thick. The final step. The last piece of the puzzle.

I felt the heat in my chest. The adrenaline, the anticipation.

And I knew, for the first time, I was ready for whatever came next.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello Sweeties,

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