"Meira zooms in on the primary official’s signature and freezes in terror as she reads her own father's full name."
"Is that signature fully authenticated by the internal state server database, or is it just a digital ghost routing through an old proxy?" Bisma asked, his voice steady as he leaned over the archive desk to inspect the glowing monitor.
Meira could not find the voice to answer him.
Her lungs felt entirely empty of air, as if a heavy physical weight had dropped squarely onto her chest and crushed every syllable before it could reach her lips.
The glowing blue characters on the screen spelled out a name she had respected, honored, and trusted every single day of her life since she was a little girl.
It was the exact name of the man who had raised her, protected her fr
