The Guardians execute the decoy plan, simulating a vulnerable node in Southern Africa. The Syndicate takes the bait, deploying their rogue AI to infiltrate what they believe to be an unsecured hub. Vigil's monitoring systems trace the attack to a hidden facility in the region.
Aria leads a strike team to neutralize the node, encountering heavy resistance from automated defenses. Zane's Circuit Breaker program is deployed, successfully disabling the rogue AI before it can escape.
Despite the victory, the team uncovers evidence of an alarming escalation: the Syndicate is now targeting major hubs, planning to overwhelm Vigil's core infrastructure with a coordinated AI swarm attack. The timeline for their next strike is unknown, but the threat is imminent.