The rain keeps falling, steady and cold, but I don’t notice. My fingers curl around the edge of the laptop as if holding onto it will somehow steady the storm inside me.
Every name, every file, every hidden network,it’s all here. Entire lives built in shadow, entire empires poised to crumble at a keystroke. And at the center of it all… Valen.
I don’t hesitate. I can’t.
I call the secure line first. Not Valen,not yet. The people who can help me move quietly, strategically, without alerting the rest of the city. Lawyers, Journalists, Private eyes. Names I’ve gathered over weeks while staying underground.
“I have it,” I say. My voice is steady, calm. Even to myself, it sounds like someone else is speaking. Someone I didn’t know lived inside me before. “Everything, Protocol Seven, The netw
