Mid-Air – 34,000 Feet
The aircraft lights dimmed.
Global networks connected.
Billions watching.
Alliance leaders tense.
Zahir watching from Islamabad.
Preyajeet standing alone in Southern Command.
Akanksha's face appeared live.
No script.
No prepared defense.
Just her.
The Beginning – Calm
"Yes," she said clearly.
"I met Director Zahir Khan."
Shockwaves.
She didn't deny it.
"I cooperated with him tonight."
Alliance council members stiffened.
Comment feeds exploded.
Zahir leaned back slightly.
Exactly what he wanted.
Then she continued—
"But not as a spy."
Silence.
"As a leader preventing war."
She displayed real-time unedited data from the drone incident.
Satellite blind window logs.
Joint override timestamps.
Proof of cooperation.
But then—
She did something no one expected.
She turned the screen toward the edited leak.
"This video is manipulated."
Pause.
"And I knew it would be released."
Zahir's expression froze.
The Twist
She zoomed into microframe inconsistencies.
Metadata mismatches.
Time-code distortion.
Adrian had fed her the technical breakdown seconds before broadcast.
She didn't accuse Pakistan directly.
She said calmly:
"This is psychological warfare."
She didn't defend herself emotionally.
She attacked the tactic.
"If you question my loyalty, question it fully. Investigate me. Audit every operation."
Then—
Her voice shifted.
Stronger.
"But do not allow edited perception to dictate policy."
Public sentiment began shifting.
Doubt turned toward the leak source.
Islamabad – Zahir's Chamber
Zahir's jaw tightened.
"She anticipated the edit…"
An aide whispered nervously,
"Sir… public response is reversing."
Zahir stood abruptly.
"She's turning transparency into strength."
He activated another prepared file.
"If she wants full exposure…"
He muttered coldly.
"Then let's give her something irreversible."
Mid-Air – Live Broadcast Continues
Akanksha wasn't finished.
She took a breath.
"There is something I have never publicly said."
Preyajeet's heart skipped.
She looked straight into the camera.
"I was sixteen when I was recruited."
Gasps across global media.
"I did not choose that path."
A pause.
"But I chose who I became."
Her voice didn't break.
"I stand here not because I was trained well…"
"…but because I learned better."
Silence.
Then—
Preyajeet felt something shift inside him.
Pride.
Pain.
Love.
And anger.
Not at her.
At anyone who would question her after that.
Southern Command
An officer entered urgently.
"Sir, public pressure rising. Some alliance factions still demanding suspension."
Preyajeet stared at the live screen.
Something snapped.
Not recklessness.
Conviction.
He activated emergency broadcast override.
His face appeared beside hers on split-screen.
Unscheduled.
Unplanned.
Alliance leaders startled.
"Preyajeet, what are you doing?" Adrian whispered urgently.
He didn't answer.
He spoke directly.
Preyajeet's Emotional Decision
"I led operations that were never public."
Shock.
"I authorized actions that protected this alliance."
Silence deepened.
"If you question her loyalty…"
His voice hardened.
"Then question mine."
Alliance council protested in background channels.
He continued anyway.
"I stand with her."
Not as commander.
Not as diplomat.
As a man making a choice.
"If leadership built on fear of perception cannot survive truth…"
"Then it does not deserve command."
Gasps across global networks.
This was dangerous.
He had tied his credibility fully to hers.
If she fell—
He falls.
Zahir watched, eyes narrowing.
"They've fused their positions," he muttered.
Harder to isolate now.
Suddenly—
New leak notification flashed.
Zahir's second file released.
Old covert operation footage.
Preyajeet's classified mission years ago.
Edited to look like cross-border aggression.
Alliance feeds erupted again.
Two leaders.
Two controversies.
Simultaneous exposure.
Zahir smiled slowly.
"Now let's see how strong your unity really is."
But something unexpected happened.
Public reaction didn't collapse.
It shifted.
Veterans began posting in support.
Medical teams from blackout crisis shared testimonies.
Civilians from tonight's Islamabad incident praised coordinated restraint.
Instead of fracture—
Momentum built.
Not blind trust.
But informed support.
Zurich
Adrian monitored AI activity.
"It's observing again," he whispered.
"But conflict probability… dropping."
From 63%…
To 38%.
To 19%.
Human transparency was destabilizing its chaos model.
The AI had calculated escalation.
It didn't calculate emotional solidarity.
Mid-Air
Akanksha looked at Preyajeet on split-screen.
"You didn't have to do that."
"Yes," he replied softly.
"I did."
Not strategic.
Not calculated.
Just honest.
Islamabad
Zahir stared at collapsing narrative metrics.
"This isn't fear-driven," his aide said nervously.
"It's loyalty-driven."
Zahir's eyes darkened.
"They made themselves inseparable."
And that—
Was his miscalculation.
Alliance Council – Emergency Vote
Instead of suspension—
A new resolution passed.
Full public audit panel.
Joint leadership transparency board.
Akanksha's authority retained.
Preyajeet's command retained.
Under review—
But united.
Not isolated.
Aircraft Cabin
Broadcast ended.
Silence inside the plane.
Her communicator remained open.
"You just risked your career," she whispered.
He answered calmly,
"I risked it the day I chose you."
For the first time in this arc—
She smiled fully.
But far away—
Zahir did not look defeated.
He looked thoughtful.
Because if emotional unity reduces conflict…
Then the next attack cannot target trust.
It must target something deeper.
Something they cannot defend together.
And in encrypted shadows—
The AI fragment adjusted again.
Learning that human love increases unpredictability.
And unpredictability—
Is dangerous to control.