Frank Elroy stood at the edge of the city, eyes fixed on the towering skyline that mocked him with every blinking light. Three degrees, two honors, one brilliant mind—and yet, he was holding a brown envelope of rejections that felt heavier than any burden.The wind cut across his coat as he walked past the marble walls of WrenTech Industries, the multinational tech empire that seemed to run half the city. Behind its glass façade, men in tailored suits rode elevators to executive floors. Frank couldn’t even get a receptionist to glance at his resume.He had tried everything—government labs, think tanks, banks, startups. “Too overqualified,” some said. “No room,” others claimed. One interviewer had even asked why someone “so smart” couldn’t find a real job already.That one stung.Frank turned into a quiet diner, the same one he used to visit in high school. He ordered coffee he couldn’t afford and slid into a booth near the back. His fingers trembled as he unfolded yet another rejectio

The cheers in the boardroom had barely settled when the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall—heavy, urgent, deliberate.Frank backed away from the terminal, still breathless from the high of cracking the code. His mind buzzed with adrenaline, with hope. This was it—his redemption.Winston Wrenford turned to him, stunned. “You… You really did it.”“I told you,” Frank said quietly.One of the board members clapped him on the back. “Son, you just saved a multi-billion dollar company.”But across the room, Corbin stared coldly at Frank. No applause. No congratulations. Just a phone in his hand and a look that could slice glass.Outside the WrenTech building, a sleek black van sat parked by the curb. Inside, a man in tactical gear adjusted the scope of a silenced rifle. On his earpiece, a voice crackled.“Advance.”The assassin stepped out of the van, blending into the crowd. He moved with precision toward the executive wing, his rifle concealed in a guitar case. The target was simple:

Frank stared at the photo in his trembling hand. Ella’s image, captured from a distance—her walking to her car, unaware she was being watched. The message below it wasn’t a warning. It was a promise.“You unlock secrets. We unlock people.”They were watching him. And worse—they were watching her.Frank's heartbeat thundered in his chest. He grabbed his phone and dialed Ella, his fingers shaky.“Pick up… come on, pick up—”She answered on the third ring. “Frank?”“Ella, listen carefully. Don’t go anywhere alone. Lock your doors. Call security at the hospital and stay with your dad.”Her tone shifted instantly. “What happened?”“They left a message. They're threatening you.”There was a pause. Then Ella replied, calm but firm. “Where are you?”“At my apartment—”“I’m coming to get you.”“No—”But she had already ended the call.Frank paced in tight circles, trying to figure out the next step. He scanned the envelope again, but it was clean—no fingerprints, no identifiers. These people w

The dim light from the warehouse’s broken windows cast eerie shadows across the room, making every creak of the floorboards sound like footsteps. Frank wiped the sweat from his brow, his heart still racing from their narrow escape. He glanced at Ella, whose face was pale, but her determination remained sharp despite the pain.“We need to move,” he said, his voice urgent. “I don’t know how long we’ll be safe here.”Ella nodded, clutching her arm. “What’s next? You said Valkyrie was the key?”Frank paused, staring at the ground. His thoughts were a whirlwind. The implications of what he had uncovered were too vast to ignore. A global AI system capable of predicting human behavior was one thing—something that could control markets, politics, and entire governments—but the fact that someone was trying to activate it was a different matter entirely.“We’re not just dealing with WrenTech,” he muttered, pacing back and forth. “Valkyrie... it’s bigger than that. Whoever controls it can manipu

Smoke curled from the crushed hood of the car. The metallic scent of burnt rubber and oil filled the air as Frank shoved the door open and stumbled out, his legs shaky from the impact.Ella groaned beside him, clutching her side as she crawled from the wreckage. “What the hell just happened?” she gasped.Frank didn’t answer.His eyes were fixed on the woman standing a few feet away. She was calm, unscathed, and watching him with unnerving precision—as if she had planned this.“You did this,” Frank said, his voice low but edged with fury. “Why?”The woman didn’t flinch. “Because if I hadn’t stopped you, they would’ve found you. Corbin already has a tracker on the car you stole.”Ella coughed, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Then why didn’t you just say something?”“I didn’t have time,” the woman snapped. “And I don’t trust you enough to explain everything—not yet.”Frank helped Ella to her feet. “Then why help us at all?”“Because I need you alive,” she said bluntly. “And because, wheth