Chapter Two: The Rooftop Fabricator

As the van turned into an alley, a white microdrone descended and captured its license plate. It belonged to no local agency. Across the Atlantic, on the top floor of White Spire Group in Geneva, a silver-haired man watched the feed. “The correction wave terminated in Linjiang,” an aide said. “An unregistered thermal platform has appeared there.” Elias Vaughan rotated a clear glass in his hand. Beyond the windows, another agent vessel hid above the clouds. “Not a platform. A candidate making a beginner's mistake. He chose to attend his first mission personally.” “Should we retrieve him?” “No. Watch him save people. How a man uses power beyond his age is worth more than his coordinates.”