It was the Global Defence Summit, the final stage for Silas Vance’s masterpiece. I stood on the staging platform directly behind the main podium, a statue in silk. The broadcast harness was a cold weight against my ribs, wired into the receivers at the base of my skull. The procedures were a dance of power. One by one, the leaders of the Free World, the Secretary of Defence, the Prime Minister, and a dozen high-ranking Governors, took their seats at the crescent-shaped obsidian table. Security was absolute. Every entrance was flanked by Vanguard soldiers in black armour, their blue optics glowing with a uniform, terrifying loyalty. "Gentlemen, ladies," Silas’s voice boomed over the PA system, smooth as expensive whiskey. "Before we sign the accords that will safeguard our children’s futures, let us toast to the end of the old world’s chaos." On cue, server
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