The federal oversight order hit at 7:14 a.m.It arrived as a sealed digital packet, locked behind three layers of encryption and stamped with a court seal that basically said, don’t even try to argue.Erick read it once in the secure conference room of the secondary GD Tech site, then read it again, slower.While the investigation into the Global Tech Summit and the related system activity continued, operational control of Gerard Dominion Technologies was being placed under temporary federal review. From that moment on, any major money transfers, core system changes, or public statements needed prior clearance.He set the tablet down without saying a word.Remi watched him from across the table. The exhaustion from the Summit was still written all over her face, but she kept her posture

The two dark cars stayed with them for eleven blocks.Jacqueline took a sudden left, then two rights through narrower streets. The cars adjusted without hurry, as if they already knew the route options. When she finally cut through a service alley and emerged on a different avenue, the tails were gone — but the message was clear.They had been allowed to notice.Back at the secondary facility, the atmosphere had changed. No one raised their voice. No one wasted movement.Erick stood at the central table while Aria replayed the surveillance fragments she had captured from street cameras. The vehicles were clean. No plates that led anywhere useful. No faces visible through the tinted glass.“They’re not trying to grab us,” Jacqueline said. “Not yet. They’re showing us they can sit on our shoulder whenever they want.”Remi stood with her arms folded tightly. “The general reported the conversation immediately. That was the point of letting you walk out.”Erick nodded. “He gave us a name fo

The name on the screen did not disappear.Erick had Aria trace the private equity fund through restricted channels. Behind its respectable “strategic technology” front sat three limited partners tied to the Continuity Group.Erick had Aria trace the private equity fund through restricted channels. Behind its respectable “strategic technology” front sat three limited partners tied to the Continuity Group.It wasn’t criminal enough for a public accusation, but it confirmed the fingerprint.“They pointed us toward their own network,” Remi said. “Someone still has to leave a paper trail.”“Yes,” Erick answered. “And commercial traces can be followed more safely than names that vanish overnight.”They changed tactics immediately. No contact with the fund. No system queries that might trigger another disappearance. Instead, they followed public filings, delayed disclosures, and routine business records. Slow work, but for the first time in days the ground stayed still beneath them.***By t

The six-hour window closed without movement.Helen Varga did not leave the building. The three Continuity vehicles held their positions until 8:19 p.m., then withdrew in the same quiet order they had arrived. The federal frequency signature remained for another forty minutes before it also disappeared from the local radius. By 9:00 p.m. the block looked ordinary again.Aria confirmed the absence of both patterns. “No residual tracking on the immediate perimeter. No secondary units detected in the surrounding streets. They are gone.”Erick stood in front of the display without speaking. The commercial thread they had worked to isolate was now sitting inside a silence that felt deliberate.At 9:47 p.m. the first confirmation arrived through a delayed public channel. A short notice from a federal records feed listed Helen Varga as having been taken in for questioning in connection with an ongoing financial review. No charges. No public statement. Only the procedural fact of her removal f

By mid-morning, two more soft delays had landed in the operations queue. One was a logistics partner requesting a “temporary recalibration” of volumes.The other was a secondary data vendor asking for fresh compliance affidavits that had already been filed under the federal oversight process. Neither email used hostile language. Both required time, attention, and a response that would not signal desperation.Erick read them once and passed the second to Remi.“You take the vendor,” he said. “I’ll handle logistics. We keep the tone identical to last week: calm, procedural, no extra explanation.”Remi already had the file open. “They’re testing how many of these we can absorb before we start making mistakes.”“Yes. So we do not make mistakes.”The next three hours were spent on exactly that work. Remi stabilized the vendor with a precise recitation of existing documentation and a short, firm reminder of the performance history that still favored GD Tech. Erick did the same with the logi