Then the city's Auto-Sync Defense triggered. A sonic pulse slammed through the Bazaar. Every TFT within a kilometer went black for three seconds. When they rebooted, Kaelen and Mira were blind—not physically, but digitally. Their TFTs displayed only static.

The TFT displayed your Social Solvency Score (SSS), your licensed emotional bandwidth, and your pre-approved career trajectory. Children saw cartoon bunnies; adults saw profit margins. The wealthy had "Crystalline" unlocks—vibrant, 8K overlays that showed real-time stock markets and weather predictions. The poor had "E-Ink" grayscale—slow, flickering text that only displayed work orders and calorie ration counts.

"They'll try," Kaelen replied. "But now they can't see us on their TFT maps. We're ghosts."

He activated the resonator.