Afternoon sunlight poured through the windows of Los Stratos Airport, throwing jagged shadows across the floor. Aria watched ground crews shuttle across the runway, chin propped on her hand, thinking how Athara felt harsher than Solandria or Mecira—an invisible prejudice that seemed to hang over the whole place.Since the Mecira case closed, they had to come up with a new plan in this strange country. Beside her, Landon rested his eyes. They had plenty of space in first class; luxury did little to ease the fatigue Aria carried. She had been on the move for days, but this was no time to let her guard down.Athara was a unique country, and the NIO wouldn't be that easy to deal with.In Athara, NIO functioned like a Special Missions Unit, with visible branches—intelligence, covert ops, tech, strategic support—and secret divisions only known to the political elite. The speaker announced their arrival, prompting passengers to retrieve their bags and form a queue.However, Aria and
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