The plan hinged on , 10 seconds before the nightly data purge, and 21 simultaneous hacks across the city’s grid—hence the numbers in the code. The Night of the Swap At 02:10 am, Lola slipped past the retinal scanner, her synthetic eye glinting in the dim light. Pearl, perched on a maintenance catwalk, launched the nanite cloud, turning the hallway into a shimmering mist that confused the biometric sensors.