Meera's heart hammered against her ribs. She was inside Silicon Canyon. About to interview the Overseer himself.
The makeshift studio was opulent and cold. Within thirty minutes of his summons, she was seated across from Bryce Onyx. The live stream indicator glowed red. She was so overwhelmed she forgot to speak, her eyes darting around the room.
Bryce's impatience was a force. "Can we start now?"
"Okay." She shivered, pulling herself together. "Last week, you fell from the Onyx Bunker alongside several tons of robots. Then you… snapped. You killed people and got lost in your memories."
"I didn't fall." Bryce's correction was swift and cold. "The robots were hacked. They threw me out."
"Thrown out?" The revelation hit her like a physical blow. "By who?"
"Charlene. She wanted the workers to tend to their families. She wanted me to abandon my project and face the virus."
"And you refused?"
"I initially did. I changed my mind, but she didn't give me the chance to act. She ejected me from the Bunker."
"But what made you snap?" Meera leaned in, her professional instincts overriding her awe.
"The robots."
She waited for more but nothing came. "Please, explain."
A shadow passed over Bryce's face. "During World War III, my bots were hacked and used to kill my family. The sight of them… triggered it." He turned to the camera, his expression a mask of strained remorse. "I apologize for my loss of control. It was unintentional. The families of the deceased will be compensated."
"Let's move to the current issue," Meera said, her voice gaining strength. "Why did you kill the workers of Barracks Fifty-Nine? Your mandate was to arrest Sangius Dave."
"They were guilty. Complicit in the deaths of millions."
"But you didn't know that. It was a hunch. Until the investigation was complete, you had no right to execute people on a guess." Her restrained anger began to simmer.
"Are you here to judge me?" Bryce's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
The air froze. Meera's courage faltered.
Dr. Elara Vex slipped into the room, staying carefully out of the camera. She fixed Meera with a venomous stare and signaled for Bryce to calm down.
Bryce turned back to the camera, his demeanor shifting to one of grave intensity. "I have made mistakes. Destructive ones. I am human. Nobody is infallible under pressure. You have no concept of the pressure I am under. The black hole crisis. The virus. Inventing a cure. Delivering justice." He paused, mastering his emotions.
"I understand you care about society. You want to ensure your rulers are capable. You judge us by our every action. But don't just judge us, also judge yourselves. How many of you help others with no thought of gain? Would you care for this planet if your survival weren't tied to it? We only care about what affects us directly. We rarely consider the consequences our actions have on others."
He leaned forward, his eyes burning into the lens.
"My duty is not just to protect humanity. It is to protect this world from the consequences of our actions. And I will continue that duty, with or without your support. I promise this: the innocent will no longer be collateral in my work. And I promise this: I will not be lenient with anyone who stands in my way."
He stood and left.
Elara stared in stunned silence. He didn't select his words. He just spilled every thought in his head.
She pulled up the live stream's comments, bracing for the fallout.
The reaction was not what she expected.
Many condemned him. But the majority praised his brutal honesty. They apologized. They pledged support. His raw, unvarnished speech had, against all odds, worked.
Elara wasn't the only one monitoring the public pulse.
Deep in a Green Zone bordering the Red Zones, Marshal Costain Dave and his squad took a rare moment of rest. Costain Dave switched on his B-Wax for the first time in days.