CHAPTER XXVI - The Fracture of Reality

The collapse of the eastern defense front marked the end of stable reality inside NEX.

Not immediately.

At first the city continued functioning through sheer continuity momentum sustained by the Heart of the Central Core and the remaining orbital synchronization architecture surrounding Earth. The artificial horizon still illuminated the upper towers. Transit systems remained operational across most sectors. Atmospheric stabilization preserved habitable equilibrium throughout the inhabited layers of the megastructure.

From a distance, civilization appeared intact.

But beneath the visible order, reality itself had begun unraveling.