The silence lasted only a few seconds before the static from his watch broke through the quiet air.
"Sir, you need to see this now," Xander's voice came through raw, heavy with unconcealed panic.
Ethan took a long breath, trying to suppress the anger still boiling in his chest. "What is it now, Xander?"
"It's not a physical attack, sir. It's worse. Our stock market... the city's combined stock index just went into freefall. Ten percent in the first five minutes of evening trading," Xander reported.
Ethan frowned. He headed to the underground study, which still had backup power. "That's impossible. There isn't negative sentiment strong enough to move the market that drastically in minutes."
"This isn't sentiment, sir. This is sabotage. Someone is massively dumping our key assets," Xand
