The morning in Silverlake started quietly, almost deceptively. The streets buzzed with the usual traffic, delivery vans rolled along the avenues, and office towers reflected sunlight in neat, mirrored grids. Inside Jasper’s Silverlake branch, however, calm had already fractured.Jackson was the first to notice it. “Sir, multiple notices have arrived overnight.” He spread the folders across the table. “Anti-monopoly review. Comprehensive tax audit covering Oakridge and Silverlake. Consumer protection investigation for the home robots. All within the last forty-eight hours.”Jasper picked up the first folder, thumb brushing over the official seal. “No incidents, no verified complaints?”“None,” Jackson replied. “Everything is procedural. But the timing… it’s coordinated. Too perfect to be random.”Lena, standing by the large screen, pulled up news clips from various outlets. “Public perception is shifting. Media frames it as necessary scrutiny. Investors are holding back. Axiom Dynamics

Jasper stepped out of the building and into noise.Cameras flashed before his foot fully cleared the doorway. Voices rose from every direction, questions layered over one another, none waiting for answers. Security formed a loose barrier, guiding him down the steps as the crowd pressed closer.“Mr. Jasper—”“Was the recess planned?”“Are the allegations true?”He didn’t look at them.Jackson stayed close, eyes scanning, one hand already near his earpiece. The air felt tight, charged in a way Jasper couldn’t immediately place. Not panic. Not anger.Something sharper.Then the System flared.Not blue. Not amber.Crimson.“Hostile intent detected. Long-range threat locked.”Jasper stopped.Not by choice.The System seized his center of balance, forcing a subtle shift, pulling his upper body down and to the side with brutal precision. It felt unnatural, like being moved by an invisible hand that didn’t ask permission.A crack split the air.Not loud. Clean.The sound passed where his head

The news hit Silverlake like a sudden tremor. Screens flickered in every office, every home, every public space, and every social media feed erupted in a wave of disbelief and speculation. Kovius Hale, the politician who had dominated headlines for weeks, was under arrest. Charges ranged from obstruction of justice to falsification of records, abuse of office, and conspiracy to manipulate public narrative.The announcements came carefully. Investigators spoke with measured precision. Documents, quietly leaked from multiple anonymous sources, corroborated every accusation. Hale’s earlier attacks on Jasper were dismissed as fabrications born of desperation and fear. There was no room for interpretation—his fall was swift, public, and absolute.In the press, commentators debated how long he had been compromised. Analysts traced his career, noting a trail of decisions that suddenly looked less like policy and more like cover-ups. Headlines rotated from “Hale Arrested: End of an Era?” to “

The first alarm went off three seconds too late.Jasper was already moving when the glass doors at the front of the Silverlake branch shattered inward. Not diving. Not running. Just stepping aside as bullets chewed through where he had been standing.“Lock it down,” Jackson shouted somewhere behind him.The System overlaid the room in pale lines. Angles. Paths. Threat markers blooming red one after another.Hostiles: twenty-three.Weapons: automatic.Intent: lethal.Jasper didn’t answer Jackson. He didn’t need to.He stepped forward.The first man rounded the corner near reception, rifle raised. Jasper closed the distance before the trigger finished pulling. The System corrected his stance, twisted his shoulder, guided his grip. The rifle clattered to the floor. The man went down without a sound.Another came from the left. Then two more.“Fall back!” someone yelled. Not Jasper’s people. One of the attackers.They hadn’t expected resistance like this. Not from him.Jasper moved throug

Jasper did not sleep. He stayed seated across from his sister long after the medic said she was fine, long after the adrenaline should have worn off. She lay curled on the narrow bed, jacket still on, hands tucked close to her chest. Her breathing was uneven at first, shallow and tight, but eventually it slowed. Then it evened out. Only when her eyelids stopped fluttering did Jasper allow himself to move. Two guards stood inside the room, positioned at opposite corners. Neither spoke. Neither shifted their weight. Another guard remained just outside the hallway, visible through the open door, back straight, eyes forward. The building itself was quiet in the way expensive security always was. No footsteps. No idle voices. Just the soft hum of reinforced systems working in the background. Jasper watched his sister for a few seconds longer. Then he stood. “Don’t let anyone in,” he said quietly. “Yes, sir,” one of the guards replied. Only then did Jasper leave the room.