Chapter 164: When the City Moves
The first traffic light changed at exactly 00:44:27.
No one outside the operations center noticed anything unusual.
A normal intersection in the eastern district shifted from green to red. Cars slowed and stopped like they had thousands of times before.
But inside the transportation control system, the change had not come from the city's scheduling software.
It had come from the override.
Marcus saw it instantly.
"Signal grid responding."
Adrian leaned closer to the console.
"Only one intersection?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
He zoomed out.
Across the city map, dozens of small traffic nodes began flickering.
Red.
Green.
Yellow.
Hundreds of signals were recalculating simultaneously.
Elena spoke quietly.
"He's reorganizing the traffic pattern."
Adrian frowned.
"For what purpose?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
Because he was watching the pattern develop.
The lights weren't changing randomly.
They were forming corridors.
