Inside the primary receiving room of the Black House, the air was chilled.
Monitors that usually tracked global market fluctuations and the District security feeds were now replaced with a single, flickering image: a scan of a physical document, yellowed with age but bearing the unmistakable, seal of Darian Black's private office.
PRIMARY RESONANCE STUDY — CONFIRMED SUCCESSOR MODEL ACTIVE.
Lucian stood in the center of the room, his overcoat still draped over his shoulders. He didn't move. He watched the words scroll across the screen, his expression still.
Marrok stood at the central console, his fingers flying across the keys as he attempted to trace the leak. "It hit a private Council server at 04:00," Marrok reported, his voice tight. "By 04:15, it was mirrored on three encrypted dark-web nodes frequented by the Lesser Houses. It's not the full file Adrian found in the docks. It's a highlight reel. Someone curated this to cause maximum damage."
