“No kidding,” I say, sarcasm sharp enough to cut.
He shakes his head. “No, I mean—there’s a classified Alliance-IHC liaison program that uses civilian oversight language as a legal shield. It’s… it’s designed to prevent war.”
The words hit my skull like a hammer.
“Prevent war,” I echo.
Clint nods, grim. “It’s meant to route emergency cooperation without triggering military escalation. Like… quiet deconfliction. Shared intel. Dispute resolution.”
I stare at the screen, my stomach twisting.
“So,” I say slowly, “it’s a bridge.”
“Yes,” Clint whispers. “A bridge that’s supposed to keep everyone from lighting each other on fire.”
I feel my teeth grind.
“And it’s been hijacked,” I finish.
Clint closes his eyes briefly, like he can’t stand the taste of that truth. “Yeah.”
The room feels smaller, like the walls leaned in to listen.
Lonari exhales behind me, controlled but hot. “So High Lantern isn’t just some rogue official.”
“No,” I say, voice low. “High Lantern is sitting in a program built to prevent war… and using it to restart one.”
Clint’s eyes flick to me, haunted. “If this gets out?—”
“It has to get out,” I cut in.
Lonari’s voice is immediate. “Jordan?—”
I spin in my chair to face him, my heart pounding so hard it makes my vision shimmer at the edges.
“We can’t keep playing shadow games,” I say, voice shaking with adrenaline. “They’re using secrecy as a weapon. That’s what got people killed on Yatori. That’s what got Venn killed.That’s what keeps making ‘containment’ sound reasonable to bureaucrats.”
Lonari’s eyes narrow. “A public hearing puts civilians at risk.”
“And secrecy already has,” I snap back. “How many civilians have to die quietly before we admit the quiet option is a lie?”
Lonari’s jaw tightens. “If you go public, the Nine retaliates openly. They don’t just hit operatives. They hit marketplaces. Transit hubs. Families.”
My throat tightens because he’s not wrong.
But neither am I.
I swallow hard, forcing my voice steady. “Then we build it so they can’t assassinate Morazin and call it solved.”
Clint’s eyes flick between us. “What are you thinking?”
I turn back to the terminal, hands already moving. The idea forms like a blade in my mind—sharp, ugly, necessary.
“We do a live multi-feed hearing,” I say. “Not one stream. Not one location. Multiple. Redundant. Automated.”
Lonari’s voice is hard. “Explain.”
I pull up a new schematic window and start building the architecture in real time.
