Taboo Online

The advance teams left North Basin within five minutes of Red Hound’s order.

Luke and Lauren remained behind long enough for Dr. Shaw to review their monitors through the medical link. The armored command vehicle followed only after he issued a narrow field clearance, along with enough restrictions to fill most of the screen mounted beside them.

Luke could walk short distances inside secured areas, but his right arm had to remain in its sling. Reinforce and Quickstep were off-limits unless a life depended on them, and Shaw had made it clear that Luke was not the one who got to decide when that line had been crossed.

Lauren was cleared for one short use of Unveiled Weakness at a time. Any increase in the pain behind her blindfold, loss of balance, or returning numbness in her fingers would end her involvement.

Neither of them argued during the assessment. Luke suspected that was the only reason Shaw had cleared them at all.

Rhea sat across from them in light field armor. The single scarred panel Rhea had managed to summon again was not active. Keeping it manifested during the drive would only waste what little stability remained in the damaged ability.

A narrow glass case rested in a padded compartment near Lauren’s knees. Three pale living thorns floated inside clean water.

Before they left North Basin, the Thornmender had placed the case in Lauren’s hands and explained its purpose through the Heartroot. The thorns could follow living mana, test corruption, or give restorative magic a path into damaged tissue. They could not heal anyone on their own, and once removed from the water, they would begin drying almost immediately.

Red Hound had ordered them packed with the other emergency supplies.

Luke looked at the case, then at his useless right hand.

Lauren noticed. "No one expects you to use Lifeblade the moment something goes wrong."

"I know." He kept his eyes on the thorns. "I’m not planning to stab the first injured person I see."

She was quiet for a beat. "Good. Before Lethariel, I’m not sure I would have believed you."

Luke gave her hand a light squeeze with his left. Their weakened resonance answered with a faint pulse.

Rhea glanced between them, then returned her attention to the tactical display without commenting.

The vehicle slowed, and Red Hound’s voice came through the interior speakers.

"Two minutes. The flatbed is still at the loading bay. Traffic cameras showed six people at the station earlier, but the current thermal sweep detects only three inside. The other three disappeared from the cameras before our perimeter closed."

Luke studied the display.

Riverside Pumping Station Four stood beside a wide bend in the river. Two cargo vans occupied the side lot, while the flatbed from the traffic footage waited beneath the loading platform beside several long metal cases.

"They stopped loading once they realized the needle had been compromised," Lauren said.

Red Hound continued. "Advance teams take the loading bay and exterior offices. Rhea stays with Luke and Lauren until I call them forward. Nobody touches the receiver equipment until Lauren examines it."

The command vehicle stopped behind two Bureau transports, and the rear doors opened onto cold river air.

The first team entered through the loading bay without gunfire.

Luke watched the body-camera feeds as responders moved past the abandoned metal cases and cleared the station’s upper level. The building had not operated in years, but the main pumps still filled most of the interior. Thick pipes crossed the walls and descended through grated floors toward the river intake chambers.

Black plates had been bolted across the old machinery. Cables ran from them toward a circular frame surrounding the largest pump shaft.

The apparatus resembled the equipment beneath Lethariel, although this version was smaller and unfinished. Several parts had already been removed and packed for transport.

"Upper floor secure," the team leader reported. "One suspect detained in the loading bay. Two others retreated below. Main pump hall remains unconfirmed."

Red Hound entered with the second team.

Rhea waited until his signal reached the command vehicle before standing.

Luke pushed himself out of the wheelchair with his left hand. His legs held, but a wave of weakness moved through him as soon as he straightened.

The nurse caught his left elbow.

"You walk to the observation point and nowhere else."

"I heard Shaw."

"I want to hear you say it."

Luke looked toward the open doors, then back at her. "I walk to the observation point and nowhere else."

"Good."

Lauren rose more carefully. Rhea moved to her side while the nurse stayed with Luke.

They entered through the secured loading bay.

The station smelled of river water, old oil, and burned metal. A captured man lay facedown near the wall with ceramic restraints around his wrists, giving Truth Behind Motion nothing useful while he remained still.

The team led them into a protected alcove overlooking the main pump hall, separated from the open floor below by portable ceramic barriers.

The receiver apparatus stood in the center.

Its circular frame had been built around the old pump shaft, with black cables descending through the grated floor. A compact block of silver-black metal rested near the base. Unlike the surrounding machinery, its surface carried no burned brands.

Lauren faced it. "I need twenty seconds."

"Take less if you can," the nurse said.

Violet light gathered beneath Lauren’s blindfold.

Under Unveiled Weakness, the unfinished supports and dead cables faded from Lauren’s attention. Most of the visible connections carried no current.

Only two sections mattered. The silver-black block near the base held a stable resonance pattern, while a separate thread of corrupted mana ran from it into a maintenance conduit above.

Lauren followed it to a black needle hidden above the central frame. The pattern around the needle was taut and dormant, ready to carry a purge command through the rig.

"Remove the silver-black component first," she said. "It’s stable, but the needle in the ceiling is linked to everything around it. If the purge activates, the rest of the frame will try to destroy the component."

Red Hound relayed the instruction.

An evidence specialist approached with a suppression case while the other responders covered the lower doors.

Lauren closed Unveiled Weakness before the pressure behind her blindfold became more than a dull ache.

Luke felt the discomfort through their bond. "You stopped in time."

"I was already closing it."

There was no irritation in her voice. She sounded tired, and Luke let the subject end there.

The silver-black component came free from the apparatus and disappeared into the suppression case.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!