Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 71 - Chapitre 80

The hallway outside the office felt tighter.Oliver stepped out first, pace steady. Caspian moved beside him. Max followed, already checking his phone.“You handled that better than I expected,” Max said.Oliver didn’t answer.His phone buzzed in his pocket.He kept walking.“They want a statement?” Max asked.“Yes.”“And if you don’t give it?”“They move anyway.”Caspian glanced at him. “You gave them something to work with.”“I gave them enough to slow them down.”Max shook his head. “Outside isn’t slowing.”They reached the stairs. Voices carried from below, louder than before. People clustered near the entrance, more than usual for that time of day.Max checked his phone again.“Yeah… this just got worse.”Oliver pulled his phone out.The screen lit up with notifications stacked on top of each other. Messages, mentions, tags.He opened one.A link.Caspian leaned closer. “What is it?”Oliver

By the time Oliver reached the council building, his phone hadn’t stopped vibrating.Not once.Max pushed the door open ahead of him. “Inside. Now.”They stepped in quickly, the noise from outside cutting off behind them.For a second, the quiet felt unnatural.Then—Caspian’s phone buzzed.Max’s followed.Oliver’s again.“They’re reacting fast,” Max said, already scrolling.“Of course they are,” Caspian replied.Oliver didn’t sit.He stayed standing near the table, phone still in his hand.Max looked up first.“Clips are already up.”Oliver glanced at him. “From the courtyard?”“Yeah. Different angles too. People recorded everything.”Caspian stepped closer, checking his own screen.“They’ve cut it,” he said.Max frowned. “Cut what?”“His statement,” Caspian replied. “They’re isolating parts.”Max swore quietly. “Of course they are.”Oliver unlocked his phone and opened one of the clips.The video started mid-sentence.—“what’s being shared… is part of something real.”It ended there

The air outside felt heavier than before.Not louder—just tighter.Like everything had settled into place and was waiting to move again.Oliver stepped down the stairs, eyes scanning without stopping. The courtyard wasn’t as clustered as earlier, but it wasn’t normal either. People stood in smaller groups now, phones still out, conversations sharper, more focused.Max came up beside him. “Yeah… it’s everywhere.”Caspian stayed on Oliver’s other side, watching the way people reacted as they passed.“They’re not guessing anymore,” he said.Oliver didn’t respond.He could feel it.The difference.Before, people had looked.Now, they watched.A group ahead went quiet as he approached.Not subtle.Not hidden.One of them turned their phone slightly, like they weren’t trying to show it—but not hiding it either.Oliver caught a glimpse of the screen.Another post.Another thread.More comments stacked underneath.“They’ve connected it across platforms,” Max said, checking his phone again. “F

The room Sarah chose wasn’t large.That was intentional.A small conference space on the second floor—glass walls, but angled away from the main walkways. Enough privacy to control the setting, not enough isolation to feel hidden.Max was already adjusting his phone on a stand when Oliver walked in.“Lighting’s decent,” he said without looking up. “Sound should be fine as long as nobody starts yelling outside.”Sarah stood near the window, arms folded, scanning the hallway beyond the glass.“It’s quiet for now,” she said. “But it won’t stay that way.”Caspian entered last, closing the door behind him.His eyes moved once across the room—camera, position, exits—then settled on Oliver.“Everything’s ready.”Oliver stepped further in.The chair in the center of the room hadn’t been moved.It faced the camera directly.No table.No barrier.Max straightened up. “We’re keeping it simple. No distractions.”Sarah added, “No one speaking off-camera.”Caspian said, “You hold the space.”Oliver

They didn’t switch rooms this time.Sarah pushed two tables together, clearing enough space for laptops, phones, and scattered notes that started forming almost immediately.Max sat cross-legged on his chair, typing fast, occasionally stopping to scroll through reactions before jumping back into the draft.“Still stable,” he said. “People are waiting now.”“That won’t last forever,” Sarah replied, pulling a chair closer. “We use the window.”Caspian stood at the edge of the table again, not writing yet—just watching how Oliver moved.Oliver didn’t sit.He stayed on his feet, one hand resting lightly against the table as he looked at the blank document on Max’s screen.“This isn’t the same as the video,” Max said. “We go deeper here.”Oliver nodded.“I know.”Sarah leaned forward slightly. “Then we need to decide how far.”Caspian answered before Oliver could.“All the way.”Max glanced up. “That’s not a small decision.”“No,” Caspian said. “It’s the only one that works.”Sarah looked