The media cycle raged all day. Charlie managed the crisis from his desk, his day a blur of legal conferences regarding server breaches, database extractions, and the mechanics of formal cooperation with Ivorian and Belgian authorities.He didn't think of Emily Torres until 4:00 p.m. It wasn't avoidance; it was the sheer necessity of the machinery. When the last press statement was approved and Joseph had coordinated with Hartwell’s team, the silence finally reclaimed the office.Charlie sat alone, remembering Emily. She had been exactly what the foundation needed four years ago. She had been brilliant—genuinely brilliant. The accountability framework, the annual report restructuring, the way she had championed Amara’s account—all of it was real. She had believed in the mission’s ethics with the same fervor that she had used to dismantle its security.Both things were true simultaneously.At 4:30 p.m., he called Hartwell. "The investigation," he said. "Emily’s cooperation?""She’s talk