"Fix the anomaly or we will liquidate your entire bloodline."The distorted voice on the encrypted phone line was perfectly calm. The sheer authority in the tone was absolutely terrifying.Richard Murphy sat in his dark executive office. He was sweating completely through his expensive silk shirt."I need a little more time," Richard begged the encrypted caller. "The Valerius press conference was a total disaster. Parker Media absorbed all the global momentum in exactly five minutes.""The Elysium Summit does not grant extensions to failures," the distorted voice replied coldly. "Ryan Parker just shredded our formal invitation. He is currently preparing to fly to Geneva to challenge us directly. You were supposed to contain him.""He is a monster," Richard choked out. He gripped the edge of his mahogany desk desperately. "He bought the underground syndicate. He cured terminal lung disease on live television. I cannot fight him conventionally.""Then fight him digitally," the Elysium r

"Put the mask on and do not speak a single word to the press."Richard Murphy shoved the sleek black visor directly into the chest of the trembling young man. The heavy plastic clattered against the actor's cheap shirt."I am committing federal wire fraud," the hired actor whispered in pure panic. "The FBI raided your headquarters this morning. There are agents standing in your main lobby right now.""The FBI does not have an arrest warrant yet," Richard snapped viciously. "They are auditing my offshore accounts. They need absolute proof of insolvency to freeze my final foreign assets."Richard grabbed the actor by the shoulders and shoved him toward the heavy velvet curtains."You are being paid fifty thousand dollars in untraceable cash to stand completely still," Richard commanded. "You are going to walk onto that stage and pose as the greatest music producer on the planet. You are going to be Zero."The actor swallowed hard. He slipped the reflective black mask over his face.Rich

"Cut the main power to the projector right now."Richard Murphy screamed the order at the glass control booth. His voice cracked with sheer, unadulterated panic.The technicians in the booth scrambled frantically. They slammed their hands against the heavy control consoles.Nothing happened. The massive jumbo screen behind the wooden podium continued to glow with the pitch black Resonance interface.Ryan Parker sat completely relaxed in the front row. He held his encrypted smartphone casually in his right hand.The glowing white login prompt hovered ominously on the fifty foot screen. The single word ZERO demanded absolute attention from every single person in the room."He is hacking the local network," Richard shrieked at the bewildered press corps. "This is a coordinated cyber attack by Parker Media."The veteran journalist in the front row completely ignored the panicking CEO. The older man pointed his digital recorder directly at the massive screen."The network is entirely close

"They are already shaking the concrete."Aria Vance stood on the marble steps of the Grand Hall. She pointed a trembling finger across the narrow avenue.The massive Vanguard Arena was a blinding fortress of artificial light. Eighty thousand screaming fans packed the corporate stadium. The Global Music Awards were in full execution.Giant digital billboards projected the massive faces of manufactured pop stars. The music bleeding into the street was incredibly loud and entirely lifeless."It is just a massive playback loop," Elias evaluated coldly.The rock vocalist stood right next to Aria. He wore a simple black leather jacket over his broad shoulders."They are lip syncing to digital tracks," Elias continued with pure disgust. "There is absolutely no biological acoustic generation happening in that building. It is pure corporate fraud."The sheer volume of the Vanguard Arena was physically oppressive. The heavy military subwoofers vibrated the soles of their shoes.Elysium Summit h

"Lock the main concourse doors immediately."The senior representative of the Elysium Summit slammed his silver cane violently against the reinforced glass. He glared down from the VIP luxury suite in pure, unadulterated rage."You cannot legally trap eighty thousand people inside a stadium," the Vanguard Arena security director argued frantically. "That is a massive federal fire code violation. I will go to federal prison.""If they leave this arena, our global monopoly burns to the ground tonight," the ancient aristocrat snarled viciously. "Barricade every single exit right now."The security director looked down at the massive general admission floor. It was completely too late to stop the bleeding.A young woman in the absolute front row stopped dancing.She was a highly paid social media influencer. Murphy Entertainment had paid her ten thousand dollars to pretend the corporate pop star on stage was a visionary.She reached up and ripped the laminated VIP pass entirely off her ne