103 FOUND SOONE AT LAST
Ambrone crossed his arms. "Lander, you were the last to see Ethen Lace. The timing of his disappearance and your communication blackout is too convenient."
"I already filed my report—", Lander protested.
"And I already read it," Ambrone cut him off. "It reads like fiction. You better cooperate with our investigation."
Dorin stepped forward. "Director, this is absurd. Lander has served the agency for ten years, he would never…"
Ambrone's eyes snapped to her. "And you would do well to rember which side you stand on, Agent chanic." His tone was soft, but the warning froze her.
Reth watched them both, smirking faintly. Lander caught the glint of satisfaction in his eyes.
This wasn't an investigation—this was a setup.
"Until further notice," Ambrone declared, "you are under internal surveillance. Your access to our systems is temporarily revoked."
"I've done nothing wrong," Lander said.
"Then you have nothing to fear," Reth replied, smiling like a serpent.
The door to the data floor burst open. A squad of ard agents stord in, their weapons drawn.
"Just in ti," Reth said.
"Agent Detective," one of the officers barked, "you are under internal custody pending investigation."
Lander's face went cold. "You're making a big mistake, Ambrone!" he shouted as they seized his arms.
"Take him to the isolation wing," Reth ordered. "No external contact. No data privileges."
Lander struggled. "Let go—you have no evidence against . This is an abuse of jurisdiction!"
Ambrone said nothing. He watched until Lander disappeared down the corridor, then turned and walked away.
-----
Monts later Dorin stood in an empty stairwell, clutching a coin-sized communicator. She took a shaky breath and whispered, "Dan, it's Dorin. They took Lander. They claim he released Ethen on purpose."
There was static, then Dan's voice appeared- low and taut. "What? That's insane. Lander's the cleanest detective I know—he wouldn't sell anyone out, especially not the SIA."
"That's what I said," Dorin replied.
"What evidence do they have?" Dan asked.
"I don't know."
Dan exhaled sharply. "Misunderstanding. It has to be. Soone's putting Lander out as a scapegoat for their own incompetence."
"What do we do?"
"The first thing is to find Ethen," Dan said. "He's the key. If we find him, we can prove Lander innocent."
"But how? He could be anywhere."
"I don't know. Lander is the one with brains. We are just following orders." Dan admitted.
"Alright. I'll tell you if anything changes." Dorin ended the call.
-----
Sowhere else in SIA, agents recorded Dorin's transmission. One brought the file to Director Ambrone. "We intercepted Agent chanic's call to Dan Dark," he reported, then played the conversation.
Ambrone paced. Reth watched him impatiently. "Well?" Reth asked.
"From that call it seems Dan Dark isn't in the loop with Lander—he even suggested we find Ethen," Ambrone said. "That's strange."
"Dan Dark? He's just an intern. It's unlikely he's involved in this, but just in case we should send out a team to his place," Reth said.
Ambrone nodded. "Then the important thing is to draw Ethen and the people behind his rescue out and capture them. We need Ethen to complete our deal with the Zetheris family."
Reth's smile widened. "Don't worry director, the bait is already set."
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"What did you find out?" Dan asked.
"Your conversation with Dorin was tapped," Ethen replied.
His tone was calm, but his fingers moved rapidly across the holo-panel, streams of intercepted data reflecting in his eyes. "They've been tracing your signal ever since you left the facility."
Dan sighed. "As expected. From now on, I'll stay away from Lander's case as much as possible. If I get tied to it, we're all finished."
"Will Lander talk?" Ethen asked.
Dan hesitated before answering. "No. That's not who he is. He could've stopped us from leaving GenSyn, but he didn't. He even covered for us. Lander would rather take the fall than betray anyone."
Ethen lowered his gaze. "So, we're really not going to help him? He helped escape. He doesn't deserve this."
Dan looked at him firmly. "Play Ambrone's conversation again."
Ethen nodded.
The air shimred as a projected audio feed replayed—Ambrone's voice, asured and cold, followed by Reth's oily responses.
When the playback ended, Dan folded his arms. "It's clear from their tone—they're convinced Lander's behind your escape. Worse, they're planning to use him as bait to draw you out. If we act now, we walk straight into their trap."
Ethen frowned. "Of course not. I'll only listen to you, Big Brother."
"Good." Dan exhaled and leaned back, rubbing his temple.
Ethen frowned, "The SIA are coming here now, I've received their comms. They would be here in minutes, where should we go?"
"They are here so soon?" Dan was caught unprepared.
Then Ethen looked at his droids, "And I shouldn't have taken those androids. Now they're proof we were involved. Where can I hide them now?"
Dan nodded thoughtfully. "I'll think of sothing."
-----
"Put two n outside the building. No one jumps from windows or stairwells," Captain Gita ordered, her voice sharp through the comms. "Another two block the corridor at both ends. No students enter or leave. The rest, with ."
The SIA agents moved with practiced precision, splitting up and surrounding the dorm. Gita's boots echoed on the tal flooring as they reached Dan Dark's apartnt.
She knocked once, twice, then harder.
There was no answer.
"Maybe he's not in there," one agent said.
"Scan it," Gita ordered.
An officer pulled a palm-sized scanner from his belt and swept it across the doorfra. The display pulsed once, then steadied.
Suddenly the lock clicked.
Dan opened the door. "What the hell?"
The agents burst inside, clearing the small apartnt room by room — the kitchenette, the bathroom, the sleeping area. There was nothing.
"He's not here," an agent reported.
Gita crossed her arms, scanning the room with cold suspicion before looking at Dan. "We're not leaving yet. Check the neighboring units. All of them."
One by one, doors opened up, and sleepy students blinked into flashlights. There was nothing, until they reached the last door — the one next to Dan's unit.
"Scanner shows one life-form inside," the tech whispered.
Gita signaled for silence, then knocked firmly. "SIA. Open up."
A few seconds later, the door swung open. A disheveled young man in half-buttoned clothes squinted at them. "Who the hell is knocking at this hour?"
"Official investigation," Gita said flatly. "Step aside, please."
Zairgid's irritation turned to unease. "What's this about?"
Before he could finish, a faint sound ca from inside his apartnt — a tallic hum, like a machine powering down.
Gita's eyes narrowed. "Inside! Now!"
The agents pushed past Zairgid and flooded the apartnt. Lights flickered as scanners swept across walls and furniture. One of the agents shouted, "Captain! Over here!"
Gita strode toward the inner room — and froze.
"We found soone," the agent said.
A silhouette stood in the middle of the living space, half-hidden behind the dim glow of the room.
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