103 FOUND SOMEONE AT LAST
Ambrone crossed his arms. "Lander, you were the last to see Ethen Lace. The timing of his disappearance and your communication blackout is too convenient."
"I already filed my report—", Lander protested.
"And I already read it," Ambrone cut him off. "It reads like fiction. You better cooperate with our investigation."
Dorin stepped forward. "Director, this is absurd. Lander has served the agency for ten years, he would never…"
Ambrone's eyes snapped to her. "And you would do well to remember which side you stand on, Agent Mechanic." His tone was soft, but the warning froze her.
Reth watched them both, smirking faintly. Lander caught the glint of satisfaction in his eyes.
This wasn't an investigation—this was a setup.
"Until further notice," Ambrone declared, "you are under internal surveillance. Your access to our systems is temporarily revoked."
"I've done nothing wrong," Lander said.
"Then you have nothing to fear," Reth replied, smiling like a serpent.
The door to the data floor burst open. A squad of armed agents stormed in, their weapons drawn.
"Just in time," Reth said.
"Agent Detective," one of the officers barked, "you are under internal custody pending investigation."
Lander's face went cold. "You're making a big mistake, Ambrone!" he shouted as they seized his arms.
"Take him to the isolation wing," Reth ordered. "No external contact. No data privileges."
Lander struggled. "Let me go—you have no evidence against me. This is an abuse of jurisdiction!"
Ambrone said nothing. He watched until Lander disappeared down the corridor, then turned and walked away.
-----
Moments later Dorin stood in an empty stairwell, clutching a coin-sized communicator. She took a shaky breath and whispered, "Damen, it's Dorin. They took Lander. They claim he released Ethen on purpose."
There was static, then Damen's voice appeared- low and taut. "What? That's insane. Lander's the cleanest detective I know—he wouldn't sell anyone out, especially not the SIA."
"That's what I said," Dorin replied.
"What evidence do they have?" Damen asked.
"I don't know."
Damen exhaled sharply. "Misunderstanding. It has to be. Someone's putting Lander out as a scapegoat for their own incompetence."
"What do we do?"
"The first thing is to find Ethen," Damen said. "He's the key. If we find him, we can prove Lander innocent."
"But how? He could be anywhere."
"I don't know. Lander is the one with brains. We are just following orders." Damen admitted.
"Alright. I'll tell you if anything changes." Dorin ended the call.
-----
Somewhere else in SIA, agents recorded Dorin's transmission. One brought the file to Director Ambrone. "We intercepted Agent Mechanic's call to Damen Dark," he reported, then played the conversation.
Ambrone paced. Reth watched him impatiently. "Well?" Reth asked.
"From that call it seems Damen Dark isn't in the loop with Lander—he even suggested we find Ethen," Ambrone said. "That's strange."
"Damen Dark? He's just an intern. It's unlikely he's involved in this, but just in case we should send out a team to his place," Reth said.
Ambrone nodded. "Then the important thing is to draw Ethen and the people behind his rescue out and capture them. We need Ethen to complete our deal with the Zetheris family."
Reth's smile widened. "Don't worry director, the bait is already set."
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"What did you find out?" Damen asked.
"Your conversation with Dorin was tapped," Ethen replied.
His tone was calm, but his fingers moved rapidly across the holo-panel, streams of intercepted data reflecting in his eyes. "They've been tracing your signal ever since you left the facility."
Damen sighed. "As expected. From now on, I'll stay away from Lander's case as much as possible. If I get tied to it, we're all finished."
"Will Lander talk?" Ethen asked.
Damen hesitated before answering. "No. That's not who he is. He could've stopped us from leaving GenSyn, but he didn't. He even covered for us. Lander would rather take the fall than betray anyone."
Ethen lowered his gaze. "So, we're really not going to help him? He helped me escape. He doesn't deserve this."
Damen looked at him firmly. "Play Ambrone's conversation again."
Ethen nodded.
The air shimmered as a projected audio feed replayed—Ambrone's voice, measured and cold, followed by Reth's oily responses.
When the playback ended, Damen folded his arms. "It's clear from their tone—they're convinced Lander's behind your escape. Worse, they're planning to use him as bait to draw you out. If we act now, we walk straight into their trap."
Ethen frowned. "Of course not. I'll only listen to you, Big Brother."
"Good." Damen exhaled and leaned back, rubbing his temple.
Ethen frowned, "The SIA are coming here now, I've received their comms. They would be here in minutes, where should we go?"
"They are here so soon?" Damen was caught unprepared.
Then Ethen looked at his droids, "And I shouldn't have taken those androids. Now they're proof we were involved. Where can I hide them now?"
Damen nodded thoughtfully. "I'll think of something."
-----
"Put two men outside the building. No one jumps from windows or stairwells," Captain Gita ordered, her voice sharp through the comms. "Another two block the corridor at both ends. No students enter or leave. The rest, with me."
The SIA agents moved with practiced precision, splitting up and surrounding the dorm. Gita's boots echoed on the metal flooring as they reached Damen Dark's apartment.
She knocked once, twice, then harder.
There was no answer.
"Maybe he's not in there," one agent said.
"Scan it," Gita ordered.
An officer pulled a palm-sized scanner from his belt and swept it across the doorframe. The display pulsed once, then steadied.
Suddenly the lock clicked.
Damen opened the door. "What the hell?"
The agents burst inside, clearing the small apartment room by room — the kitchenette, the bathroom, the sleeping area. There was nothing.
"He's not here," an agent reported.
Gita crossed her arms, scanning the room with cold suspicion before looking at Damen. "We're not leaving yet. Check the neighboring units. All of them."
One by one, doors opened up, and sleepy students blinked into flashlights. There was nothing, until they reached the last door — the one next to Damen's unit.
"Scanner shows one life-form inside," the tech whispered.
Gita signaled for silence, then knocked firmly. "SIA. Open up."
A few seconds later, the door swung open. A disheveled young man in half-buttoned clothes squinted at them. "Who the hell is knocking at this hour?"
"Official investigation," Gita said flatly. "Step aside, please."
Zairgid's irritation turned to unease. "What's this about?"
Before he could finish, a faint sound came from inside his apartment — a metallic hum, like a machine powering down.
Gita's eyes narrowed. "Inside! Now!"
The agents pushed past Zairgid and flooded the apartment. Lights flickered as scanners swept across walls and furniture. One of the agents shouted, "Captain! Over here!"
Gita strode toward the inner room — and froze.
"We found someone," the agent said.
A silhouette stood in the middle of the living space, half-hidden behind the dim glow of the room.
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