The violet leaf did not wither under the un-optimized noon sun. Instead, it uncurled its sharp, geometric edges against the crushed aluminum casing of the scouting drone, its surface ticking with a microscopic vibration that felt like a telegraph wire strung through a garden. The text blooming on its skin—VOLUME 10, CHAPTER 3: THE FIRST CLASS—was written in the precise, razor-thin font of the High Treasury, a tiny but stubborn piece of corporate graffiti trying to brand the dirt.Xander knelt in the clover, his heavy, calloused hand hovering just above the stem. The amber ember beneath his scars remained dark, but his fingers were steady as he plucked a nearby blade of wild grass and laid it across the violet leaf, shading the tiny text from view."They aren't launching an assault, Sara," he said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that felt entirely rooted in the coastal earth. "They're launching a curriculum. The Third District knows that if they can't count our stones, they can still t
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