Adrian's POV
The first clue we recovered after Kelly's rescue is a name I haven't spoken aloud in years.
"Quinn," Max says, his voice cautious, as if he's unsure how the name will land. "It keeps coming up in the old 'The Veil' records. We found an old encryption, and the logic trees feel familiar."
I look at the projection wall, my thoughts already moving faster than his. "What do you mean by familiar?" I asked
He doesn't answer immediately. He doesn't need to. My instincts have already begun screaming.
The files open in layers; they were archived command signatures, predictive models that feel uncomfortably intimate, counter-psychic structures designed not just to neutralize me, but to anticipate me.
These counter-psychic structures operate by mapping mental signatures of people and predicting their potential reactions.
I felt a deep sense of disgust at being manipulated by such people.
