It starts with a footstep. Heavy. Deliberate. The kind that doesn’t need to rush because time is already on its side.

In Episode 6: South Stair, Lis and Janelle are trapped in a stairwell that smells like boiled cabbage and old secrets. The light buzzes like it’s about to tell the truth, and someone is coming down toward them… slowly. Carefully. With intent.

What follows is a scramble through the city’s undercurrent: utility rooms full of dust and wire, back hallways slick with detergent, alleys that smell like rain and fried onions. Every escape buys them a few more minutes, but the net is tightening. The burner phone trick might work, for noq. But someone knows where they are. Someone wants Lis. And not in a way that ends with a conversation.

Inside a deli, between water bottles and tea bags, Janelle finally lays it out. Crumbs from a shred bin. City memos. Names in code: Rook. Sable. Crane. A scribbled line that shakes Lis to her core: Lis M confirms access. Was she a key? Or a pawn? Or just the reason?

A rooftop meeting is set. Two hours. One location. No names. No promises.

Lis has a choice: leave the city or burn it down from the inside. And as the florist’s cooler hums and the flowers don’t care, a bell rings at the front of the shop.

They are not alone.