The faint light from Daisy’s desk lamp illuminated the scattered papers and holographic displays before her. It was early—too early for most—but NovaTech’s labs were never silent. In the background, the hum of servers and the steady beeping of terminals filled the air, a reminder that even after the chaos of the previous day, the work never stopped.

  Daisy ran a hand through her hair, staring at the screen in front of her, her mind racing with unanswered questions. Her hands hovered over the console, tapping at data that refused to align with her theories. She hated inconsistencies, and lately, they were piling up faster than she could process them.

  She glanced at her tablet, where an alert from Dr. Levin’s office blinked with urgency. The two of them had spoken late into the night, but the conversation had been brief, unsatisfying. Levin had seemed distracted, vague about what happened in the aftermath of the attack, especially when it came to the masked vigilante—Veil, as they called him.

  Daisy leaned back in her chair and picked up her phone, quickly dialing Levin’s direct line. It rang twice before he answered, his voice already tired.

  "Levin here."

  "Doctor, it’s Daisy. We need to talk about the masked vigilante—about Veil," she said, her tone firm. "I have questions that aren’t adding up."

  There was a pause on the other end. "I told you last night, Daisy. There’s not much to say. He’s… cooperative but not forthcoming."

  "That’s not enough," Daisy pressed. "This guy shows up out of nowhere, takes down intruders who overwhelmed Crimson Nova and her team, and now he’s what, just staying in our facility? No questions asked?"

  "I know what you’re thinking," Levin replied, his voice softening, "but Veil’s different. He’s not here to disrupt our work. He was trying to protect people."

  Daisy shook her head, frustration simmering. "I’m not questioning his motives. I’m questioning the situation. There are gaps in what we know—about him, about what really happened in that room. I’m running the data from the attack, and something feels off. Who is this guy, Levin? You’re telling me you don’t know more than what he’s giving you?"

  Levin sighed on the other end of the line. "Daisy, Veil’s been around longer than you think. He’s kept his head down, done his part quietly. As for the attack, I’ve told you what I know. Veil’s not talking much—refuses to answer anything specific about himself. But right now, we need to focus on finding out what these intruders were after, not digging into his past."

  Daisy gritted her teeth. "That’s part of the problem, Doctor. We’re in the dark about too many things. We don’t know who these attackers were, what they wanted, and now we have a vigilante hiding out in our labs, refusing to explain himself."

  "I trust Veil," Levin said firmly. "And right now, I need you to trust me."

  Daisy sat in silence for a moment, tapping her pen against the desk. "Fine," she finally said, her voice softer but still sharp. "But I need more data on him. I want full access to everything NovaTech has on Veil, anything that might help me understand why he’s involved."

  "I’ll send you what I have, but it won’t be much," Levin replied. "He’s careful, Daisy. We’re not the only ones in the dark."

  Before she could respond, a sharp chime interrupted their conversation—an incoming call.

  "Daisy, I’ll get back to you," Levin said quickly. "But don’t push too hard on this. Veil’s on our side."

  The line went dead, leaving Daisy staring at her phone, the unanswered questions swirling in her mind. She clenched her jaw, irritation creeping in as she tried to shake the feeling of being deliberately kept in the dark.

  A second chime echoed through the room, drawing her attention back to her tablet. It wasn’t Levin this time. The message was from one of the receptionist staff at NovaTech, requesting her immediate presence at a meeting later that afternoon.

  "Daisy," the voice on the other end said briskly when she answered. "You’ve been asked to attend an emergency debrief with The Guardians. It’s regarding the events of the attack."

  Daisy felt her pulse quicken. The Guardians—the top heroes in this part of the country. The elite. And now, they wanted to hear from her.

  "Of course," she replied, trying to keep her voice calm. "What time?"

  "5 p.m., sharp," the receptionist responded. "It’ll be held in the main conference room. Be prepared to provide a full report on your findings."

  "I’ll be there."

  She hung up, her mind already racing again. The Guardians were the ones calling the shots when it came to protecting the public, and if they were involved, it meant the attack on NovaTech was much bigger than anyone had realized.

  But the meeting wasn’t until 5 o'clock. That gave Daisy time—time she intended to use wisely.

  She glanced at the clock on her tablet and made a quick decision. Sitting around obsessing over unknowns wouldn’t solve anything. She needed to be in the lab, running diagnostics, looking over data, and questioning her team. The attack hadn’t just been an intrusion—it had been a calculated breach, one that left NovaTech’s most vital secrets vulnerable. There was no way she was going to let that stand.

  Grabbing her coat, Daisy left her office and made her way to the central lab. As she stepped into the corridor, the air buzzed with an urgency that hadn’t been there the day before. People moved faster, conversations were clipped, and guards with enhanced perception abilities—eyes glowing with multi-spectral awareness—scanned every inch of the facility. No one was taking chances.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Daisy passed by a pair of colleagues in the hall, both of them deep in conversation. The taller of the two, Dr. Emery, glanced up at her, his eyes glowing faintly green, a sign that he was using his power—long-range cellular vision. He could scan an entire room at the molecular level, which made him indispensable when it came to detecting hidden threats.

  “Carter,” he called out, falling into step beside her. “I’ve been trying to get a read on what exactly those intruders were after, but it’s like they left no trace. Clean, professional.”

  “Which means they had help,” Daisy replied, her voice tight with frustration. “But what kind of help? Did you find anything unusual in the molecular scans?”

  “Not yet,” Emery admitted. “I was able to get some readings from the air particles in Sector 3. Whoever they were, they weren’t using anything conventional—no tech I’ve ever seen. But I’m picking up traces of…something.” He stopped, his glowing eyes narrowing. “It’s like they altered the air density itself. A molecular manipulator, maybe.”

  Daisy’s mind whirred. “Could someone have hacked into our modulator systems? Or worse—reverse-engineered them?”

  Emery shook his head. “No way. The modulators are too advanced for outside tampering. If someone was manipulating molecular structure like that, it’s either natural or something we don’t have a handle on yet.”

  “Great,” Daisy muttered. “Another unknown.”

  Emery shot her a sympathetic look before veering off toward his own lab, leaving Daisy to her thoughts.

  The elevator ride to the lab level felt like a lifetime. Daisy had never been one to dwell on problems—she preferred action, moving toward solutions. But something about this situation felt…wrong. The intruders had moved with too much precision, as if they knew exactly what NovaTech housed.

  When the elevator doors slid open, the cool, sterile air of the lab greeted her. Rows of consoles blinked with data, while her team moved in a controlled rhythm, each member focused on their specific task. Daisy scanned the room, her eyes landing on Nora, one of her brightest researchers, whose ability to manipulate electricity made her invaluable when it came to powering some of NovaTech’s more complex equipment.

  Nora stood over a control panel, her fingers crackling with faint arcs of blue light as she adjusted the current running through a test modulator. With a flick of her wrist, she calibrated the flow of energy, the device humming to life under her touch.

  “How’s it going, Nora?” Daisy asked, stepping up beside her.

  “Fine, I think,” Nora said, her voice distracted. “But there’s something weird about these readings. The energy fluctuations don’t match up with what we’ve seen before. It’s like…someone rerouted the power grid remotely.”

  Daisy’s stomach sank. “You’re saying someone else had control over the grid?”

  “Not exactly,” Nora replied, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the data. “More like…they hijacked it for a split second. Whoever did this knew exactly how to exploit the system without leaving a trace.”

  Daisy felt a pulse of frustration rise within her. Every new detail pointed to the same conclusion: NovaTech had been compromised in ways they hadn’t even begun to understand.

  She leaned closer to the screen, studying the data. It was like looking at a code she almost recognized but couldn’t fully grasp. The intruders weren’t just skilled; they were using abilities or tech far beyond anything NovaTech had anticipated.

  “Run the diagnostics again,” Daisy instructed. “Check the backlogs, look for patterns. Anything out of place, I want to know immediately.”

  Nora nodded, sending another arc of electricity across the panel. The screens lit up, a flurry of data running across them as the system rebooted. Daisy left her to it and moved toward the far end of the lab, where they kept the physical containment units.

  As she entered the containment area, she spotted a familiar figure—Dr. Kael—working quietly beside one of the units. Kael’s ability to manipulate temperature meant he could slow down or speed up molecular reactions with pinpoint precision. Right now, he was using his power to stabilize a sample, his hands glowing faintly with a cool blue aura.

  “Kael, have you had a chance to look over the samples from yesterday?” Daisy asked.

  Kael glanced up, his hands still radiating cold energy. “I have, but it’s strange. These intruders—whatever they were after, it wasn’t just our tech. They took samples. Specific ones.”

  Daisy’s brow furrowed. “Which samples?”

  “The ones we’ve been using to test the modulators' ability to stabilize volatile powers. Someone out there knows more about our work than they should.”

  Daisy’s mind raced. If the intruders had targeted those samples, it meant they were interested in the very heart of what NovaTech was doing—controlling and amplifying powers. But for what purpose?

  Kael’s hands dimmed as he finished stabilizing the sample, then he stood, turning to face her. “What I don’t understand is how they knew exactly where to go. These units aren’t labeled for public knowledge. Someone inside must’ve leaked the information.”

  Daisy clenched her fists. "That’s what I’m afraid of."

  She took a step back, her thoughts swirling. This wasn’t just an external attack; it was starting to feel like an inside job. Someone had been feeding information to the enemy, and now, they were closer to unraveling NovaTech’s most guarded secrets than anyone realized.

  The thought made her blood run cold.

  Before she could delve any deeper into her suspicions, her phone buzzed again. It was the receptionist.

  "Dr. Carter," the voice on the other end began, "we just received another update regarding the meeting at five with The Guardians. They’ve requested that you prepare a detailed report on the attack and any insights you’ve gathered on the intruders. Please be ready to present your findings."

  Daisy pressed a hand to her temple, the weight of everything settling on her shoulders. "Understood. I’ll have it ready."

  She hung up, exhaling slowly. The meeting with The Guardians was hours away, but it already felt like the stakes were growing by the minute. NovaTech wasn’t just facing an external threat—it was battling from within, and Daisy had no idea who she could trust.

  As the clock ticked closer to the meeting, Daisy returned to her desk, pulling up the data once again. She had work to do, and she wasn’t about to let anything—or anyone—stop her from getting to the bottom of this.

  Daisy spent the rest of the afternoon pouring over the data, her thoughts a whirl of numbers, power signatures, and encrypted communications. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, her mind working at a breakneck pace as she connected dots that no one else had yet seen. There were gaps, yes—but the patterns were emerging, and soon, she would have the answers.

  By the time the clock struck four, Daisy’s desk was littered with notes, charts, and diagrams. She had prepared her report for The Guardians, detailing everything she knew about the attack, the intruders, and the stolen samples. But it wasn’t enough. She needed more data, more proof that something deeper was at play.

  She would have to rely on her instincts at the meeting. And as much as Daisy hated going into a room unarmed with hard evidence, she knew one thing for sure: whatever was coming, it wasn’t over. The fractures in the system were widening, and if NovaTech didn’t act fast, the entire foundation might crumble.

  She glanced at the clock. It was time.

  With a deep breath, Daisy gathered her notes and headed for the door. The Guardians would be waiting—and she had a feeling this meeting would determine the future of everything she had worked for.