The early morning after the blackout attempt. The kind that comes after a near-disaster — not quite peace, not quite relief. Just a city catching its breath.Elias stood on the rooftop of KaneTech Tower, wrapped in a black coat as the wind tugged at his sleeves. Below him, the streets buzzed faintly with signs of life returning: streetlights flickering back on, coffee vendors reopening their carts, distant sirens echoing as emergency crews finished cleanup.He exhaled slowly.They had survived the night.Behind him, the rooftop door creaked open. Lena stepped out, a tablet in one hand, a scarf looped tightly around her neck.“You should be resting,” she said, walking up beside him.Elias gave a small shake of his head. “Could say the same to you.”She smiled faintly, then held up the tablet. “Press coverage is mostly positive. People are calling KaneTech the reason the city didn’t fall into total darkness.”“That’s a start,” Elias said. “Any word from Mara?”“She’s resting. We’ve move

The rain had not let up since the night of the failed blackout.Elias stood beneath the overhang of an old train platform, flanked by Lena and Marcus, watching as volunteers unloaded crates of batteries, thermal blankets, and backup communication devices into the hands of neighborhood leaders. What was once KaneTech’s emergency surplus had been repurposed, rerouted—no longer a corporate safety net, but community lifelines."We’re not just patching holes anymore," Lena murmured beside him, tugging her hood tighter against the rain. "We're building something different."Elias nodded but said nothing. His eyes were fixed on a teenage girl passing out thermal kits to elderly residents with brisk efficiency. This — the sight of ordinary people stepping up, leading in the spaces government and corporations had neglected — was the clearest signal yet that the movement had taken root.The city wasn’t waiting for heroes anymore.But Roarke wasn’t done. The blackout had failed, yes, but his peo

Rain washed the blood and smoke from Chicago’s streets, leaving behind a city dazed but not defeated. News helicopters circled above the KaneTech Tower as dawn crept over the skyline, golden light piercing the haze. For the first time in weeks, the city’s power grid held steady, unmarred by sabotage or manipulation.Inside the newly secured operations floor of KaneTech, Elias sat at a wide console, fingers steepled, eyes heavy with exhaustion. Around him, staff worked in quiet focus. Monitors tracked the stabilization of the grid, union negotiations, and emergency response initiatives. The Skyhook satellites — once poised to hijack every digital system from above — were now offline. Crippled. Exposed. KaneTech’s teams had fed Roarke and Marcus Kane’s final operation to federal authorities just hours before the blackout plan was initiated. The fallout would take months, maybe years, to settle.But for now, Elias breathed.“You look like shit,” Lena said, walking in with a cup of coffee

“Project Janus,” Elias murmured as he joined her, voice low but heavy. “They’re hitting us where it hurts the most — trust.”Mara didn’t look up. “Truth is the new battlefield. If they drown us in lies, even our wins become doubts.”Lena appeared in the doorway, expression grim. “We’ve got a situation. The first wave of Janus disinformation hit the news feeds an hour ago. Fake reports of KaneTech officials colluding with criminal networks, doctored videos of protests turning violent, manipulated audio clips of me and Marcus negotiating dark deals.”Elias ran a hand through his hair, exhaustion threading his voice. “They’re trying to fracture us from within. Turn the public against the very movement we built.”Curtis stepped in behind Lena, arms crossed. “And it’s working. The unions are jittery. Some local leaders are pulling out of rallies, afraid of being labeled conspirators.”Mara slammed her fist on the desk. “They want us to fracture. We can’t.”Elias nodded. “We fight fire with

What began as a fight for Elias city had morphed into a sprawling battle against a silent, insidious network that threatened cities far beyond the Great Lakes.He felt the familiar buzz of his phone and glanced down at the screen. It was Mara. The message was simple but urgent: “New intel from Lagos. Prometheus activating nodes faster than we predicted. They’re moving to phase three.”Elias inhaled deeply and rose from his chair, moving toward the war room where Lena, Curtis, and their allies were already gathered, eyes tired but sharp.“This is no longer a local war,” Elias said, voice steady but carrying the weight of command. “It’s global.”Lena nodded. “Our teams are stretched thin. The satellites, the infrastructure, the digital backdoors — they’re connected to governments, private companies, even intelligence agencies. It’s a web designed to strangle any opposition.”Curtis leaned forward, his hands clasped on the table. “And the workers? Our people are scared. The union leaders