Vincent Raye was dead.
But the machine he built the Network was still alive.
Power doesn't vanish with one death. It adapts. Reorganizes. Retaliates.
Matherson knew this. That's why he didn't celebrate. He didn't sleep. He didn't breathe easy.
Because he knew something Ghostbyte had only just begun to uncover.
"Matherson…"
"We were wrong. Raye wasn't the king. He was just the face."
They had pulled the hard drives from the Mirror Room just before the lockdown encrypted like Fort Knox. But Ghostbyte cracked through a fragment of one. What he found made both of them go still.
A name.
"Operation Edenfall."
A map.
Twelve cities.
Dozens of red pins.
Each one tagged with initials, faces, and file codes—all marked "Active."
Ghostbyte's voice shook, even through the static.
"It's not just about your family anymore. These files… they show blackmail, assassinations, political manipulation. They've been shaping entire governments. All connected."
"Vincent was just a piece. The true orchestrators—"
"They're still out there. Hidden."
Matherson stared at the map.
Twelve cities.
Twelve monsters behind the mask.
A dozen more like Vincent Raye.
Maybe worse.
His jaw clenched.
"I'm going after them."
Six Weeks Later – Lisbon, Portugal
The cold night air pressed in as Matherson crouched beneath the old stone viaduct.
Ahead was his target: a tech conference gala filled with politicians, billionaires, and one particular man—
Dr. León Kravitch.
Former intelligence advisor. Now head of a biotech firm rumored to be funding human behavior experiments under the Edenfall directive.
Matherson didn't have solid proof yet.
But he had a photo of Kravitch having dinner with Vincent Raye, two months before the massacre.
That was enough.
He moved through the alley, his breath steady. No armor tonight. Just shadows, steel, and instinct.
Ghostbyte patched in through a burner comm.
"There's a back entrance near the wine cellars. Staff rotation switches in two minutes. Cameras will go blind for ninety seconds."
"Don't get caught. Kravitch disappears fast."
Matherson smirked under his hood.
"He won't have the chance."
Inside, chandeliers hung like inverted galaxies. Laughter echoed against marble columns. Power moved here in tuxedos and perfume, blind to the blood that paid for their peace.
Matherson didn't blend in.
He didn't need to.
He was already behind the walls.
A waiter passed Matherson clipped his badge and moved through the kitchen, then down the hall into the restricted section.
Up ahead: Kravitch, leaning against a balcony, sipping wine, smiling at a senator.
Ghostbyte whispered:
"Five security details near him. But you're clear on his six. One injection is all it takes."
Matherson reached for the syringe custom-made cocktail to simulate a stroke.
Non-traceable. Quiet.
But just as he closed in
Kravitch turned.
And smiled.
"I was wondering when you'd show up."
Matherson froze.
Too late.
A crack.
Pain burst across the back of his skull.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Unknown Location – Underground Facility
He woke to cold steel. Wrists chained. Shirt torn. Blood down his side.
And across the room, seated calmly, Dr. Kravitch.
"You really thought you were hunting us?" Kravitch said, chuckling. "You've been in our system since the moment you left North Haven."
He stood.
Walked over.
Stared down at him.
"You're not a problem, Matherson. You're a test. We needed to see how far one ghost could go. And you… well, you made it all the way here. Impressive."
Matherson didn't speak.
Kravitch leaned in.
"But now it's our turn."
He turned to leave.
As the door sealed behind him, gas hissed into the room.
Matherson's body jerked once.
Then went still.
But five floors above, something stirred.
A system breach.
Unexplained.
Unknown.
And a voice, whispering into the dark:
"I'm in. I found him. Hold on, M… I'm coming."
Ghostbyte had found him.
And he wasn't alone.