Novels by Sheila

FBI agents were entering the diner now, led by Agent Rodriguez. But his expression was grim, conflicted. He approached the booth slowly."Chris, I need you to come with me," Rodriguez said. "Martinez has issued orders for your arrest. You're wanted for questioning in connection with the warehouse attack.""Rodriguez, Martinez is corrupt," Chris said. "She's The Benefactor. She's been running the Consortium.""I know," Rodriguez said quietly, shocking everyone. "I've known for months. I've been gathering my own evidence against her. But Chris, you can't just run. You have to do this legally. Come in, make a formal statement, let proper investigators handle it.""Proper investigators report to Martinez," Chris pointed out. "She controls the system.""Not all of it," Rodriguez said. "There are people in Justice Department who've been watching her. People who suspect but can't prove anything. Chris, your evidence combined with what I have, it might be enough. But only if we do this right.

"She's bluffing," Marcus said, but he didn't sound confident. "There's no way she could have tracked us here.""She's FBI," Chris said bitterly. "She has resources we don't even know about. Of course she tracked us."He moved to the window and looked out carefully. The street below appeared empty, but Chris had learned that appearances meant nothing. Martinez's people could be anywhere, watching, waiting."We need to get this evidence out immediately," Marcus said, frantically copying files to multiple drives. "Send it to journalists, upload it online, make it impossible for Martinez to suppress.""She'll claim it's fabricated," Chris said. "Deepfakes, edited videos, forged documents. Without corroboration, it's just more accusations that go nowhere.""Then we get corroboration," Marcus insisted. "There are other people who know what Martinez is. Other operatives she's worked with. We find them, get them to testify.""They'll be too scared," Chris said. "Or already dead. Martinez does

They ran through the warehouse, bullets chasing them, explosions collapsing sections of the building behind them. Marcus moved with professional efficiency, clearly trained for exactly this situation.They reached the loading bay and Marcus triggered a hidden door Chris had never known existed. A tunnel, similar to the one in his father's mansion."Your father built these all over the city," Marcus explained as they descended into darkness. "Escape routes for exactly this kind of situation. He knew someday the Consortium might come for him."They ran through the tunnel, emergency lighting providing dim illumination. Behind them, the sounds of pursuit echoed."Who is The Benefactor?" Chris asked as they ran. "Just tell me.""You're not ready to hear it," Marcus said. "You won't believe me. Just like I said on the phone, you have to discover it yourself.""Stop with the cryptic nonsense," Chris demanded. "If you really want to help, give me a name."Marcus stopped running and turned to

Chris spent the rest of the day wrestling with the decision. Every instinct screamed that another midnight meeting at an abandoned warehouse was a trap. But the voice on the phone had sounded genuine. Desperate even.And the claim that his father's real killer was still free gnawed at him.Martinez tried to talk him out of going. "Chris, this is exactly how people get killed. Mysterious voices, vague promises, isolated locations. Every red flag is waving.""Then come with me," Chris said. "Set up surveillance like last time.""Last time you went to meet someone mysterious, your wife tried to kidnap you and nearly killed you both in a car crash," Martinez reminded him. "Maybe we should try a different approach.""What approach?" Chris asked. "Ignore the call and hope whoever has information about my father's death just gives up and goes away?""Or it's someone trying to lure you into danger," Rodriguez added. "Chris, you've exposed the Architect, destroyed the Consortium, and made doze

Chris wanted to say no. Wanted to deny any feelings for this woman who'd destroyed his life. But he couldn't lie, not about this."Yes," he admitted quietly. "I hate that I do. I hate that after everything, some stupid part of me still loves you. But I can't turn it off. Can't make it go away."Vera smiled sadly. "Good. That means it was real. That means we really did have something genuine, even if it was buried under layers of lies and manipulation. Chris, I'm going to spend the rest of my life in custody. But I'll spend that time knowing that for three years, I was actually loved. Actually had something real. That's more than someone like me deserves.""Stop trying to make this romantic," Chris said. "You're a criminal. You killed people. You destroyed lives. Love doesn't erase that.""I know," Vera said. "But it makes it bearable. For both of us. Chris, you're going to move on. You're going to find someone else eventually. Someone who actually deserves you. And when you do, I want

Chris stood up abruptly. "I'm done listening to philosophy. If your list is accurate, if the flash drive really contains what you claim, then maybe you'll get your reduced sentence. But George, don't expect me to sympathize with you or Vera or anyone else involved in this nightmare. You all made choices. You're all responsible.""Even Vera?" George asked. "Even someone who was five years old when the conditioning started? Someone who never consented to being turned into what she became?"Chris didn't answer because he didn't have an answer. He left the interrogation room with the flash drive and the list, his mind churning with new information he didn't want to process.Martinez was waiting outside. "How did it go?""He gave me a list of names and a flash drive he claims contains proof he worked with my father," Chris said. "We need to verify everything before we act on any of it.""Already on it," Martinez said, taking both items. "We'll have forensic analysts examine the flash drive

The global strike happened over the next forty-eight hours, coordinated attacks on all forty-seven node locations simultaneously, and the reports came flooding in one after another. Tokyo successful, fragment destroyed with no casualties. Beijing successful but three volunteers were injured. Moscow successful after heavy fighting. London successful. São Paulo successful.Min-joon stayed in the command center they had set up in Seo-rin's apartment, monitoring everything, coordinating responses, making decisions when local teams needed guidance. He barely slept, barely ate, surviving on coffee and adrenaline and the knowledge that thousands of people were risking their lives on his orders.By the end of the second day, forty-three of the forty-seven fragments had been destroyed completely, their node structures dismantled and their System energy dispersed. Three more were contained, isolated in locations where they could not spread or recruit new victims. Only one remained fully active

The attack hit and the Core's body dissolved into fragments of data and light, but he reformed instantly a few feet away, laughing. "Did you really think it would be that easy? This is not even my real body, just a projection, you cannot hurt me by destroying pixels and light.""Then I will destroy the node itself," Min-joon said, redirecting his power toward the massive crystalline structure in the center of the chamber.But before his attack could reach it, the chamber filled with darkness so complete that Min-joon could not see his own hands in front of his face. He heard Tae-hyun shout something, heard Min-seo cursing, but the sound seemed to come from very far away.The Core's voice spoke from everywhere and nowhere. "This is my domain, my origin point, the place I have had fifty years to prepare and fortify. Here I am not just strong, I am god, I control every aspect of reality, and you are nothing but an insect who forgot his place."Min-joon felt something wrap around his ankl

The flight to Jeju Island left at six in the morning, early enough that the airport was quiet and half-empty. Min-joon, Tae-hyun, Choi Jin-woo, and Min-seo boarded without incident, though Min-joon noticed airport security giving him longer looks than normal, probably recognizing him from news reports about the System incidents.They did not talk much during the flight, each of them lost in their own thoughts about what was waiting for them on the island. Min-joon spent most of the time reviewing everything he knew about the original System node, trying to prepare mentally for what they might face.Kim Hae-young had been the first player fifty years ago, selected on Jeju Island when the System was just beginning, when it was small and experimental and still learning how to harvest human consciousness. That meant the original node would be old, primitive compared to what came later, but also fundamental, the foundation everything else was built on.If they could destroy that foundation

Song Mi-rae had been sitting quietly in the corner for most of the planning session, listening to everything but not contributing. Now she spoke up, her voice soft but clear. "I might be able to help with coordination, I still have the connection to the fifteen thousand people who were part of the hive mind. If I ask them, if I explain what is happening, some of them might be willing to act as scouts or messengers, they are spread across Korea and some have connections internationally.""That would be incredibly helpful," Min-joon said, grateful. "But I do not want to put them in danger, they have already been through enough.""Let them choose," Song Mi-rae replied. "Give them the option to help and let them decide for themselves, some will say no and that is fine, but some will want to fight back against the thing that controlled them. They deserve that chance."Min-joon nodded, understanding. "Okay, reach out to them, explain the situation, ask for volunteers only. Anyone who wants

By dawn, Min-joon had made thirty-seven phone calls and his voice was hoarse, but he had commitments from twenty-three former players across twelve cities. It was not enough, not nearly enough to cover forty-seven locations, but it was a start and that was something.Han Woo-jin arrived at the apartment first, looking older than Min-joon remembered, his hair grayer at the temples and lines of guilt etched deep around his eyes. He had been trying to atone for his years as a Keeper by helping former players adjust to normal life, but the moment Min-joon called he had dropped everything and come running."Show me what we are dealing with," Han said without preamble, setting down a duffel bag that clinked with what sounded like weapons.Min-seo pulled up her monitoring data on the laptop screen, showing energy signatures from around the world. "These are the original forty-seven node locations, most of them are still dormant but three have started showing activity in the last six hours. T

Song Mi-rae closed her eyes, concentrating, reaching out with whatever connection remained from her time as a living node. After a long moment she opened her eyes again, looking troubled."I can feel something," she said slowly. "Not the Core exactly but echoes of him, like ripples spreading across the world. He is not in any one place, I think he distributed himself across multiple locations to avoid being found and destroyed again.""That makes sense," Choi Jin-woo said, thinking out loud. "If I were the Core and I had just barely survived being killed, I would not put all my consciousness in one vulnerable spot. I would spread out, create backups, make myself impossible to destroy completely.""So we cannot just find him and kill him," Seo-rin said. "We would have to destroy every piece simultaneously, which is basically impossible.""Nothing is impossible," Min-joon said again, with more conviction this time. "We just have to be smarter than him, we have to think of something he h