The quiet hum of the NovaTech lab was a stark contrast to the chaos that had erupted just days ago. Daisy sat at her desk, fingers tapping restlessly against the surface, eyes fixed on the myriad of data floating across the holographic screens. The harsh glow of the monitors cast long shadows on her face, deepening the tired lines that had formed from sleepless nights.

  She stared at the same data she’d been combing through for hours, her mind swirling with unanswered questions, but one question lingered more than the rest: What was Veil really doing there?

  Her phone buzzed, a quick vibration that rattled the quiet. She picked it up, her hand trembling slightly as she opened the message from Dr. Marcus Levin: “We need to talk. Meet me in Conference Room 7. Urgent.”

  Daisy’s pulse quickened. She had spoken with Levin late into the night, but even then, he had been vague, evasive. He was hiding something. She could feel it. He always danced around the topic of the masked vigilante—Veil, as they called him—refusing to acknowledge the oddities she had noticed.

  She pushed back her chair, the soft whir of the wheels cutting through the stillness of her lab. Grabbing her tablet, she made her way down the long, sterile hallways of NovaTech, the sound of her footsteps echoing against the polished floors. The building felt emptier than usual, though she knew the security had been doubled since the attack. Despite the extra presence, a strange hollowness lingered in the air.

  As she reached Conference Room 7, the door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing Dr. Levin seated at the long table, his brow furrowed in thought. He looked up as she entered, gesturing for her to sit.

  “Daisy,” he said, leaning back in his chair, eyes scanning her face. “I appreciate you coming. I know things have been… tense.”

  Daisy didn’t sit. She folded her arms, her eyes hard. “I need answers, Marcus. Real answers. No more dodging.”

  Levin sighed, rubbing his temples before sitting up straight. “I understand your frustration. I do. But right now, we’re dealing with sensitive information. We can’t afford to act impulsively.”

  “I’m not being impulsive,” Daisy snapped, her voice sharper than intended. She exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself. “I’m being logical. Something doesn’t add up, and you know it. The data from the attack… the way Veil fought… it’s all too perfect. Like he knew exactly where to be, exactly what to do. How could he—?”

  Levin raised a hand, cutting her off. “Veil’s involvement wasn’t anticipated. I told you before, he’s an enigma. But he’s not our enemy. He helped stop those intruders.”

  “Did he?” Daisy shot back. “Or did he have another motive? He took down several of them, yes, but why was he there in the first place? And why hasn’t he resurfaced since? He just vanished into thin air.”

  Levin's eyes flickered with something she couldn’t quite place. “We don’t know everything about him, Daisy. He’s operated under the radar for years. This isn’t new.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Daisy said, her voice quieter now, but no less firm. “We’re dealing with a group that knew exactly where to hit, exactly what to take. They weren’t amateurs. They took samples, Marcus. Samples that could change everything we’ve worked for. And Veil was there… right in the middle of it. There’s more to this. I know it.”

  Levin sighed, glancing away for a moment before meeting her eyes again. “Look, I’m not saying you’re wrong. But Veil’s involvement is complicated. He’s not your typical vigilante. He’s… different. His motives aren’t clear, but he’s not a threat to us.”

  “Then why do I feel like we’re missing something?” Daisy asked, her frustration giving way to a gnawing sense of dread. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Levin hesitated for a beat too long, and Daisy’s suspicions deepened. He was hiding something—she could feel it. “I’ve told you everything I know,” he said finally, though his voice lacked its usual conviction.

  Daisy leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. “No. You haven’t. And until I get real answers, I’m not letting this go. I’m not sitting back and watching this place fall apart from the inside. If you won’t help me, I’ll figure it out myself.”

  Levin’s expression softened, a rare flicker of empathy crossing his face. “Daisy… I know this is hard. Believe me, I do. But we need to be careful. Whoever orchestrated this attack—they’re playing a game we don’t fully understand yet. We can’t afford to make a wrong move.”

  Daisy felt the weight of his words pressing down on her, but it only fueled her determination. She wouldn’t be sidelined. Not this time.

  “I’ll find the answers,” she said quietly, more to herself than to him. “One way or another.”

  Without waiting for Levin’s response, Daisy turned sharply on her heel and left the conference room. Her mind buzzed with questions, suspicions tightening in her chest like a vice. Levin had said what he needed to, but she wasn’t satisfied. Something was being kept from her, and she wasn’t about to let it slide.

  The hallways of NovaTech felt longer than usual, the sterile lighting overhead casting shadows that seemed to stretch with every step. Daisy’s thoughts drifted back to the attack—how precise it had been, how the intruders had known exactly what to target. There had to be a mole. Someone on the inside had to be feeding information to the attackers. But who? And why?

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  She reached her personal lab, her sanctuary within NovaTech, and locked the door behind her. The familiar hum of the servers and the flicker of holographic displays grounded her, but the gnawing feeling in her gut remained. Sitting at her desk, she pulled up her secure files—data she had been gathering on the attack, on NovaTech’s security breaches, and on the anomalies that didn’t make sense.

  Leaning forward, she began reviewing the logs from the day of the attack. She had gone over them dozens of times already, but now she was looking for something different. A pattern, a trail—anything that pointed to someone working from the inside. Someone had to be leaking information. The question was who, and how deeply were they embedded?

  Her fingers flew across the console as she accessed NovaTech’s internal security footage. She began sifting through hours of recordings, starting with the days leading up to the attack. At first, nothing stood out—just the usual comings and goings of staff, security patrols, and maintenance workers. But something in the background caught her eye.

  She paused the footage, rewinding a few frames. There, barely visible, was a figure lingering near one of the restricted areas—an area connected to the modulator research. The figure wore a standard lab coat, blending in with the rest of the personnel. But something about the way they moved, the subtle hesitation before stepping out of the frame—it sent a shiver down her spine.

  Daisy magnified the image, trying to get a clearer view. The figure’s face was obscured, hidden by the angle of the camera. She ran a facial recognition scan, but it came back inconclusive. Whoever this person was, they were careful not to be identified.

  Her heart raced as she switched to the next camera angle, tracking the figure’s movements through the facility. They moved with purpose, heading straight for one of the modulator labs. But just before reaching the door, they stopped. The figure turned, glancing over their shoulder as if checking to see if they were being watched, then continued down a different corridor.

  Daisy’s mind whirred. Whoever this was, they knew exactly where the cameras were and how to avoid detection. They had access to restricted areas, but they were cautious. Too cautious.

  She traced their path through the building, piecing together their movements. Every step, every pause—it was deliberate, methodical. But there was a gap. A section of the building where the cameras went offline, right around the time of the attack. A power fluctuation had been reported that day, but it had been dismissed as a minor glitch, something unrelated to the larger crisis.

  Daisy’s stomach tightened. It wasn’t a glitch. It was sabotage.

  Her fingers danced across the console, pulling up the power logs from that day. The fluctuation occurred at the exact moment the figure disappeared from the camera feed. Someone had deliberately caused the outage to hide their movements.

  She stared at the screen, her pulse quickening. There was no doubt now. Someone inside NovaTech had disabled the cameras to cover their tracks. But who?

  Her thoughts flickered to the employees who had access to that part of the building. Levin? No, despite his evasiveness, he wasn’t reckless enough to endanger the entire facility. There were other researchers, security personnel… or maybe someone higher up, someone with access to override protocols.

  Daisy pulled up the employee access logs, cross-referencing them with the power fluctuation. The names on the list were familiar—researchers, engineers, security staff. All of them had been cleared by NovaTech’s internal vetting processes. But that didn’t mean they were innocent.

  One name stood out. It wasn’t anyone high-profile, not a senior researcher or a department head. It was a junior technician, someone with just enough access to slip under the radar. Someone who worked in maintenance and data systems—someone who could manipulate the security feeds without raising suspicion.

  Her eyes narrowed as she pulled up the technician’s file. Anthony Burke. Mid-level, low visibility, just another cog in the NovaTech machine. But there was something off. His file was too clean, too perfectly constructed. It was as if someone had gone out of their way to make him seem… unremarkable.

  Daisy’s breath hitched. This is it. She had found the mole, or at least a major suspect. But how to prove it? How to connect him to the attack?

  A sharp beep from her tablet interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced down at the notification. Her heart skipped a beat.

  Anomalous Power Spike Detected—Sector 3.

  She blinked, the words not registering at first. Then it hit her.

  A power spike—now? She pulled up the data, her pulse quickening as she saw the readings. The spike wasn’t random. It was building, steadily increasing in intensity. And it was happening far too close to the scheduled memorial parade for Crimson Nova.

  Her fingers trembled as she ran a quick analysis. The spike was consistent with the kind of energy signatures she had seen before—during the NovaTech attack. Whoever had sabotaged the facility last time was preparing to strike again.

  She quickly cross-referenced the spike with the city’s grid and the parade route. The timing wasn’t a coincidence. Whatever was happening, it was tied to the memorial. If she didn’t act fast, it could turn into another disaster.

  Daisy stood abruptly, her mind racing as she pieced it together. The parade—the city—the power spike. Someone was planning to use the event as cover for another attack. And if the spike was anything like the one that had disrupted NovaTech’s systems, it could have devastating consequences.

  She grabbed her tablet and bolted for the door. She didn’t have time to go through official channels. She had to get ahead of this—now.

  Her heels clicked against the floor as she moved through the hallways, her mind spinning with the implications. The mole inside NovaTech, the rising power levels, the parade—it was all connected. But what was the endgame? What were they trying to achieve?

  As she reached the main control room, she brought up the city’s power grid on her tablet, tracking the spike’s origin. Sector 3 was close to the heart of the city—dangerously close to the parade route. If the spike continued, it could disrupt the entire city’s infrastructure. Or worse.

  She tapped into the local emergency network, sending out a quiet alert to NovaTech’s internal security team. She didn’t want to cause a panic, but they needed to be ready.

  Her mind buzzed with a thousand thoughts as she pulled up the latest readings on her screen. Whoever was behind this had thought of everything. They had planned the timing, the location, the cover. But they hadn’t counted on her.

  She wasn’t going to let them win.