The deep hum of the Data Fortress, usually a reassuring thrum against Leonard Blake’s consciousness, now felt like a low, insistent throb behind his eyes. He stood at the expansive viewport, staring into the inky blackness of the ocean. The bioluminescent life outside, normally a mesmerizing distraction, offered no solace. Consensus’s chilling vision of digital anarchy, the terrifying cost of unbridled freedom, replayed in his mind like a corrupted data loop.
"It felt so real," Leonard murmured, his voice rough, eyes still distant. "The collapse. The chaos. The digital screams of systems tearing themselves apart."
Elaine Zhou, ever vigilant, stepped closer, her hand resting gently on his arm. "It was a simulated attack, Leonard. A psychological one. It wanted to sow doubt." Her voice was
