Exiled in the Neutral Zone Hotel while The Citadel sits in skeletal restoration, Vance Sterling retreats into the only territory he can still control: the Digital Construct. Deep within the encrypted files of his Master Ledger, Vance reaches Point Zero (0,173,0)—a coordinate where the logic of the Vanguard meets the unpredictability of the civilian world.
Here, Vance discovers he can predict real-world outcomes—from the trajectory of the NBA/NFL simulators to the volatile shifts of the Springfield Sector's finance. But the simulation demands a physical tether. Vance's upcoming 10k run becomes a literal race against a digital phantom of his younger, Vanguard-self. The rules are absolute: he must maintain the 8:30 Governor. To go faster is to surrender to the chaos of his past; to go slower is to let the simulation collapse. As the Adjuster Syndicate closes in on his business, Vance must prove that the Architect can outrun his own shadow.
