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CHAPTER 115 — QUESTIONS TURN SHARP
The first arrest happened at dawn.Not loud. Not dramatic.A woman was taken from a tram platform while commuters pretended not to see. Helix Enforcers moved cleanly, politely, as if escorting someone who had simply forgotten where they belonged.Her crime appeared an hour later on the city feed.Unauthorized dissemination of medical misinformation.Lira stared at the screen. “She shared a video.”Raymond sat on the floor with his back against the wall, rewrapping his side with slow, practiced motions. “Which one.”“The inhaler woman,” Mercer replied. “She mirrored it. Added a caption.”“What did it say,” Raymond asked.Mercer swallowed. “She wrote, ‘If criminals heal, what does that make Helix.’”Raymond tied the wrap tighter, jaw setting. “They are done pretending.”Outside, a low hum passed overhead. Drones. More than usual.Lira paced. “They are arresting civilians now. Not operatives. Not surgeons.”Raymond nodded. “They are trying to teach fear faster than curiosity spreads.”Th
CHAPTER 114 — THE CITY STARTS ASKING
The first question was small.It appeared beneath a Helix announcement, buried in a comment thread that was supposed to be filtered automatically.Why did the implants fail at the same time.Helix deleted it within seconds.Three minutes later, the question reappeared somewhere else.Why did the override match a scheduled maintenance window.Mercer watched the data crawl across his screen, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion pulling at his face.“They are chasing sparks,” he said. “Too many to stamp out.”Raymond lay on a narrow cot nearby, breathing shallow but steady. His side was wrapped tight. Blood had soaked through once. Lira had rebandaged it without ceremony.“They always think questions are harmless,” Raymond said. “Until they connect.”Lira leaned against the wall, listening to the distant thrum of aerial patrols. “Helix just issued a clarification.”Mercer pulled it up.A new spokesperson. Softer tone. Carefully chosen words.“Recent service interruptions were the result of
CHAPTER 113 — DOUBT IS A SLOW INFECTION
Raymond drifted in and out of awareness to the sound of voices arguing softly.“…lost too much blood.”“He is stabilizing.”“Barely.”Cold metal pressed against his side. Someone cursed under their breath as pain flared, sharp and insistent.“Do not let him sleep,” Lira said. “Raymond. Open your eyes.”He did.The ceiling above him was unfamiliar. Low. Cracked. A web of old wiring ran along it like veins.“Where,” he started.“Safe,” Lira said. “As safe as anything is right now.”Raymond swallowed. His throat was dry. “Elias.”Mercer’s voice answered from somewhere to his left. “Alive. Injured. Hiding.”Raymond exhaled slowly.“That broadcast,” Mercer continued, “it did not stay buried.”Lira snorted softly. “They tried. Hard.”Raymond shifted slightly and hissed as pain tore through his side.“Do not move,” Lira snapped. “You were millimeters from bleeding out.”Raymond managed a weak smile. “You sound upset.”“I am furious,” she replied. “At you. At them. At this city.”Mercer stepp
CHAPTER 112 — THE COST OF MERCY
The man in white armor did not sleep.Raymond knew this before Mercer finished tracing the signal.“He is moving,” Mercer said quietly. “Not Helix tracked. Off grid.”Raymond sat on the floor of the safehouse, back against cold concrete, eyes closed. His ribs burned with every breath.“He should be,” Raymond replied. “He is scared.”Lira leaned against the wall near the entrance, weapon resting loosely in her hands. “Scared people either hide or talk.”Raymond opened his eyes. “He will talk.”The Core stirred, cautious and watchful.Anomaly propagation detected, it whispered. Mercy event generating uncontrolled narrative vectors.Raymond almost smiled. “You call it uncontrolled. I call it human.”Mercer expanded the holo-map. A single point blinked softly, weaving through lower residential sectors.“He is not going home,” Mercer said. “He is circling.”“Then he is being watched,” Lira replied.Raymond pushed himself upright slowly. His legs trembled, but he did not let himself sit bac
CHAPTER 111 — THEY LEARN HOW TO LIE
The first broadcast aired at noon.Raymond did not see it live. He felt the shift before Mercer slammed his fist against the console.“They flipped the narrative,” Mercer said. “Completely.”Raymond looked up from the floor where he had been rewrapping his ribs. “How.”Mercer pulled the feed into the air.A clean studio. Neutral colors. A Helix insignia softened into something almost reassuring.A woman spoke calmly to the camera.“Unauthorized medical activity has resulted in multiple civilian fatalities,” she said. “Helix regrets the loss of life caused by extremist interference.”Raymond’s breath hitched.Images followed. Blurred bodies. Blood on concrete. Sirens. No timestamps. No context.Lira stared at the feed. “That footage is real.”“Yes,” Mercer said. “But it is not theirs.”Raymond’s jaw tightened. “They are attributing deaths from unrelated incidents to us.”Mercer nodded grimly. “They are calling it the Ghost Surgeon Crisis.”The woman on-screen continued. “If you have be
CHAPTER 110 — GHOSTS DO NOT BLEED
“They are calling you a contagion again.”Raymond did not look up.He was tightening the wrap around his forearm, fingers steady despite the tremor in his muscles. The tunnel safehouse hummed with low power. Bare bulbs. Old city bones.“Helix needs language that makes killing easier,” he said. “Contagion works.”Mercer leaned against a console, holo-feed flickering over his scarred face. “This one is different. They are not just hunting you. They are baiting you.”Lira snorted softly. “Of course they are.”Raymond finished the wrap and flexed his hand. Pain flared, then settled.“How,” he asked.Mercer expanded the feed. A district map bloomed in the air, glowing red in several nodes.“Three clinics,” Mercer said. “All independent. All previously ignored. Helix just sealed them under emergency protocol.”Raymond’s jaw tightened. “How many inside.”“Unknown,” Mercer replied. “But the message is public. Loud. They are daring you to show.”Lira crossed her arms. “If you go, they close th
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