First Blood on Delancey

It was a negotiation with every force he touched, and every negotiation changed the negotiator. If he wanted to remain kind while becoming powerful, kindness had to become discipline instead of mood. The enemy adapted as well. By evening, anonymous channels reframed the rescue as a recruitment stunt, a foreign plot, a corporate hoax, a military test, and evidence that Kieran himself had caused the danger. Contradictory lies did not cancel each other; they multiplied, giving frightened people whichever version best protected them from uncertainty. Amara called that the fog market. Naveen called it memetic contamination. Milo called it garbage with venture funding. Kieran called it another battlefield.