Twilight set the Manhattan skyscrapers ablaze, their glass facades reflecting reddish glints that contrasted with the darkening sky. The Freedom Sky Tower, a colossal structure of reinforced glass and strengthened alloys, rose above the urban landscape like a monument to human pride in the face of Portal chaos. Erected specifically to host high-security international meetings, it had been evacuated within an eight-block perimeter.
The deserted streets echoed only with the measured steps of elite tactical squads. Combat helicopters traced concentric circles in the sky, while energy barriers, products of the best anti-mana technologies, formed an invisible dome around the complex. Manhattan, normally frenetic, seemed to hold its breath, as if sensing the importance of the deliberations about to take place.
