Rumor Is A Crime Punishable By Death

Chapter 2 – The Verification Alert

At the headquarters of the Verifiers Unit sat Agent Kael Verin; a senior officer who believes in order and is morally conflicted.

Data flowed steadily across multiple screens, as he watched without emotion. If Agent Kael was to be described, he’s the type that walks into a room and his presence makes the room go silent. He’s a tall, well built man with the posture of someone trained to be constantly aware of his surroundings. His facial features are well defined, there’s an intensity in his gaze, and his expressions are difficult to read. He keeps his hair short and dresses clean. Even when he’s not in uniform the aura of authority still hovers around him. Agent Kael is physically capable and intelligent. He understands human behavior well, which makes him an effective investigator and a dangerous opponent.

As he sat monitoring the screens, he heard a notification beep with a change in the screen color palette. His eyes narrowed like he had been waiting all day to go hunting.

A text appeared at the top of the central display.

VERIFICATION ALERT: LEVEL BLACK

Kael straightened up.

Black-level alerts were rare. Most agents never saw one in their entire service period. They required accurate confirmation and cross-checks that eliminates chances, errors, and mimicry. This alert pops up when a rumor is said about the elites like the Supreme President, Politicians, Commissioners, the list goes on.

He touched the screen and the interface expanded.

Five verbal traces appeared side by side. Each recorded in a different district, at different times, and by different individuals.

Kael opened the analysis panel.

A breakdown appeared: sentence construction, emotional inflection, rephrase and repetition.

The system highlighted the anomalies in muted gray.

Independent origin probability: 0.03%

Another panel opened automatically.

STATUS: ACTIVE
CONTAINMENT WINDOW: 24 HOURS

Kael’s fingers hovered for a moment before moving.

He accessed the case file.

The origin district appeared at the bottom of the page.

BLACK TIER DISTRICT

One of the most buzzing district known for elite nightlife and political playground.

CASE ASSIGNMENT: CONFIRM OR ELIMINATE
PRIMARY AGENT: KAEL VERIN

He had been chosen because of his clearance level, success rate, and history with similar cases.

The thing with rumors related to elites is that 99% of the time the criminals are always eliminated.

5 years ago, Agent Kael experienced a similar case where under twelve hours a woman was eliminated for making a comment about a politician. Unfortunately that woman happened to be Agent Kael’s fiancée.

Whenever night fell and he tried to sleep, he always remembered her face the last moment before her elimination.

A prompt appeared at the corner of the screen.

AWAITING CONFIRMATION

Kael reached forward and placed his thumb against the scanner.

It loaded briefly.

CASE ACCEPTED

The file locked.

Preparation protocols began to load.

As he walked toward the door, the screens behind him resumed their steady flow of data.

Outside the office, somewhere in the Black Tier District, was Lysa Solenne unaware that her words had just been noticed.

And someone was coming for it.