Far

A week had passed since we'd ignited the spark. The air crackled with a nervous energy, a counterpoint to the usual pre-dawn silence. Sleep had become a luxury I could no longer afford. Every moment was dedicated to monitoring user engagement on the Spark Library, tracking the spread of our exposé on social media platforms, and anxiously waiting for the inevitable retaliation from Zephyr.

But so far, there had been an unsettling calm. It felt like the eye of the storm, a chilling silence before the tempest unleashed its fury. A gnawing unease gnawed at me, a discordant note in the melody of cautious optimism I'd been trying to cultivate.

Reaching for a mug of coffee, I flicked on the television for a moment's distraction. The news blared to life, an image of Bentley Blackwood, his face an oily mask of self-satisfaction, filling the screen. My stomach clenched as the newscaster regaled viewers with the latest developments in Blackwood's ever-expanding empire.

"Bentley Tech," the newsca