The scanner’s warmth against her neck felt unexpectedly intimate, but with Daniel’s presence solid beside her and Sophia’s knowing smile, Juniper’s fear transformed into anticipation. Whatever this Kracapp verification was, they’d handle it. Together.

The bouncer’s expression never changed as he verified their credentials, simply nodding toward the entrance…

As the heavy doors pulled apart with a pneumatic hiss, the throbbing bass hit the three of them like a physical wall of sound, dense enough to make Juniper wonder if the club kept AEDs on hand for first-timers. Daniel’s hand found the small of her back as he moved in front of them, his body cutting through the sonic assault like a blade through smoke.

The transition from outside to in was like stepping through a portal into another world - a world where even radio waves came to die. Juniper felt the exact moment they crossed the threshold, her device going silent in her pocket as the warehouse’s steel skeleton swallowed all signals like a hungry ghost. Trucks were still arriving at the docks, but instead of cargo, they disgorged floods of people and supplies in perfectly choreographed chaos, each new arrival sealed within this electromagnetic tomb of celebration.