The safe house lamp threw harsh light across the table. Kai's fingers flew across the laptop keys. Elara stood behind him, arms crossed, watching lines of code scroll like blood on glass. The ledger fragment was clean—raw, damning, impossible to deny. Names. Amounts. Timestamps. The Curators' fingerprints on billions, funneled through NexusLearn like poison in a well."Ready for the hard part," Kai said, voice low. He opened a new window—an anonymous broadcast node, routed through a dozen encrypted relays. "This goes wide. Dark web forums, crypto channels, every whistleblower feed. No central server to shut down. Once it's live, it's everywhere."Elara nodded. Her mind was half elsewhere. The list burned behind her eyes: Priority Target: Operator: Elara Nyx. Her name on their radar. Her kids scattered. Jake in his shadows. Mia and Connor in California. Logan halfway around the world. She wanted to call them—now, tonight. Warn them. Pull them close. But the moment she reached out, she might as well paint a target on their backs. Not yet. Not until she knew how deep the Curators' reach went. She trusted her sons' training. She trusted Mia's quiet strength. But Connor—seven, innocent, gap-toothed smile calling her "Nana"—made her chest ache in a way nothing else could. Kai glanced up, catching the shift in her expression. "You okay?"She forced a small smile. "Just thinking about family."He held her gaze a moment longer—understanding, not pressing. Then he turned back to the screen. "This broadcast will buy us time. They can't hunt you if the whole world knows what they're doing."Elara leaned closer, shoulder brushing his. "Then let's make it loud."Kai's fingers paused on the keys. "Once it goes live, there's no take-back. They will come harder. Faster.""I know."He studied her—really looked. "You're sure?"She met his eyes. "Burn it down, Reyes."A slow nod. "Burn it down."He hit enter. The upload began—silent, relentless. Progress bar creeping forward. Five percent.
Ten.
Fifteen. Then the laptop pinged—sharp, urgent. A red alert box flashed across the screen. INTRUSION ATTEMPT DETECTED. SOURCE: UNKNOWN. LOCATION: HONG KONG. Kai's jaw tightened. "They're tracing us."Elara's pulse kicked up. "How?""Someone's pinging the relays. Fast. They're already looking for the broadcast."She glanced at the window—curtains drawn, but the city outside felt suddenly too close. "We have to move."Kai shut the laptop, yanked the USB. "We stay here five more minutes. Let the upload finish. Then we vanish."He stood, moving to the door—checking locks, peering through the peephole. Elara followed, grabbing her jacket. The progress bar hit twenty-five percent. Then the lights flickered. A soft knock echoed from the hallway—polite, almost casual. Kai froze. Elara's hand went to her multi-tool, blade already out. The knock came again. Three soft taps.Then a voice—calm, accented, familiar in the worst way. "Ms. Nyx," it said through the door. "We know you're in there. Open the door, please. We just want to talk."Elara's blood ran cold. They were here.