STRONGER MATCH FOUND.
My breath catches.
Clint leans closer, eyes widening slightly. “Okay… okay.”
A result window opens.
And where a name should be, there’s a black bar.
Not glitchy. Not corrupted.
Deliberate.
IDENTITY: [REDACTED]
ACCESS CLASS: EXECUTIVE OVERRIDE
ORIGIN NODE: ALLIANCE HIGH COMMAND LIAISON CHANNEL
My stomach drops.
“What—” I start.
Clint’s face goes pale. “That’s not technical redaction.”
I stare at him. “Explain.”
Clint swallows hard. “If it was a technical limitation, it would return partial. Or fail. Or spit an error.” He gestures at the screen with a shaking hand. “This is a deliberate executive-level block. Someonein the chain of commanddecided this identity cannot be revealed by query.”
My mouth goes dry.
“So even inside the restricted system… High Lantern is protected,” I whisper.
Clint nods once, slow. “Yeah.”
A cold fury rises in me, clean and sharp, like a blade being honed.
“It’s not just that they exist,” I say. “It’s that the system is built to hide them.”
Clint’s voice is rough. “Jordan, if we’re seeing an executive block, it means?—”
“It means we’re close enough to scare them,” I finish.
Clint looks at me with something like dread. “Or close enough for them to decide you’re not worth the risk alive.”
I huff a humorless laugh. “They decided that weeks ago.”
Clint’s eyes flick to the door. “Lonari needs to know.”
“He does,” I agree.
I start to stand?—
And my comm ping chimes softly.
A security alert.
Not from the city.
