"You did sothing like that, man...? Wait, how much money are we talking about here?"
The television screen flickered as Grace’s testimony continued, her voice steady despite the tremor of emotion beneath it. Adam didn’t really do any of those for recognition, not at all. But now, seeing soone co to his defense... he felt a warmth he couldn’t really understand.
"Holy shit," Harvey whispered. "She’s really going for it."
And Grace wasn’t finished. The news anchor tried to interject, but Grace seed to have a lot to say.
In the end, however, the broadcast cut to a comrcial before she could continue. The RLRD mbers turned to look at Adam. He stood frozen, the Shion still in his hand.
"Well," Evan said, drumming his fingers against his leg. "That was sothing."
"I don’t think they will be the last." And surprisingly, Mira spoke up, crossing her arms as her tail popped up from behind and started wagging slowly.
"I’ve seen firsthand what Adam does during our operations—I don’t think they will be the last to speak up for you, Endless."
And she was right.
It took a day to destroy Adam’s reputation. It also took a day to restore it.
Grace wasn’t the last to speak up. Soon, more people revealed themselves—survivors from the cleanup sites, families of those who’d died in Leaks Adam had cleared, even so of the addicts from his old apartnt building who rembered the cash he’d thrown from the window.
Unlike the horrifying accusations against Adam, the people he helped had receipts. Photos, videos, witness testimonies. Real evidence.
"Look at this," Harvey said, scrolling through his phone. "This guy’s got security footage of you lifting that concrete slab off his car. And this woman... she’s got dical records showing her daughter would’ve died if you hadn’t gotten her to the hospital so fast."
The insane part was, they all kept coming.
Every hour brought new testimonies. New faces. New stories of Adam’s quiet heroism that had gone unnoticed until now.
Adam watched the screen, srized. This ti, he was looking at a familiar face—Marianne, the server he’d helped back in that small town.
Sothing was weird with Marianne, however. She was holding a photo of Adam—not a screenshot from the Ga footage, but an actual printed photograph.
"Uh... why is she holding a photo of you, man? Wait a minute..." Harvey said, leaning forward. "Bro, they’re all holding pictures of you, man!"
The other mbers of the Church of Administrators of the town were behind her—and Harvey was right, they were all holding images of him right next to their... rosaries.
"That’s... unsettling," Derek muttered.
"They’re treating him like a saint," Selena observed, "How deliciously blasphemous."
Half an hour later, another step forward. It was one of the creeps from the other team in his first Ga—a woman who rembered how Adam had tried his best to save them even though they were enemies.
But what the news kept coming back to was Grace. More specifically, her ntion of the Hospital.
How could they not, when Grace had also told them so n in suits had co to her asking questions about Adam. The other won with her said the sa thing.
They all told the public that right after the incident, they started asking questions about Adam—they were sure those people were from the Hospital.
And now, almost everyone tuning into the news about Adam knew the Hospital existed.
And now, everyone was asking questions about the Hospital. Where it could possibly be, does the president know about it, were they still experinting on people.
All of them were now going to the internet and posting—#releasethefiles.
And it didn’t end there. A day later, people were now even protesting near the White House and shouting the sa thing.
As for Adam, well, he wasn’t out of the gutter yet.
While it was true his reputation was salvaged, and the hate was manufactured, it was still true that so guilds had beco dissatisfied with him, as it felt like he was directly competing and racing against them. His actions were still being reviewed by the IBAA’s disciplinary board.
And so, right now, Adam was only able to respond to actual High-risk Leaks.
"Are there any more?" Adam asked while on the helicopter, watching the landscape blur beneath them.
Harvey groaned. "You want to do more?! Dude, we’ve cleared three today already."
"Everything seems quiet," Beatrice said while scanning her tablet. "I’d advise going back to rest. New Leaks would stop appearing soon, as the next Ga nears."
Harvey celebrated. "Finally! We get to rest for a few days."
Adam could really only sigh at this, then look at the floating words in front of him.
[Free Status Points: 59]
He’d been hoping he could at least reach sixty, but alas. He could only sigh again and agree to return to the RLRD.
Sadly, Beatrice was right. An entire day passed without incident. No High-Risk Leaks. No alerts. Not even a minor rupture anywhere in the world.
The silence was almost unsettling.
By afternoon, the mbers were gone. After all, it was only in days like these that they could afford to take a break.
A break that Adam found himself restless in. And so, he did what the others did. He left.
He kicked his motorcycle to life and rode toward the city, letting the wind press against his jacket and clear his thoughts.
There was a market Harvey had ntioned more than once—a market where they sold random materials from Leaks, as well as equipnt made from them.
Harvey had claid he’d once found sothing interesting there, but he didn’t say what when Adam asked him about it.
He only said it was sothing that "changed his life".
That alone made Adam curious.
And perhaps... that curiosity was a mistake.
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