"Cassandra receives a bank alert showing a massive unauthorized withdrawal from her primary maritime shipping fund account."
The notification screen pulsed against the dark mahogany of the wine cellar table, a persistent beacon of ruin in the dim, subterranean light. Cassandra stood over it, her breathing jagged and shallow. She had been summoned here by Richter, supposedly for a private moment away from the prying eyes of the city, but the silence of the cellar now felt like a tomb. Her hands, usually adorned with rings that cost more than a commoner earned in a lifetime, were trembling uncontrollably. She looked up as the shadows shifted, and Richter stepped into the pool of amber lamplight.
"Do you have any idea what this is, Richter?" she demanded, her voice echoing off the damp st
