Page 62

“Five thousand sent. East gate cleared. Thirty-six thousand. Waterfront depot. Eighteen thousand sent. Hollow Market clear.”

He reads through the spreadsheet.

“They’re not talking about the game.” I stab a finger at the screen. “They’ve been using our forums for years as some kind of coded hub. Obsidian shards are code. Grey ore is code. The locations are meeting points. The prices are payment amounts.”

Kain goes still.

I pull up the complaints.

“Grey ore stalled at east gate. Supplier issues. Five thousand already paid.” I switch to the next one. “Eighty-five hundred outstanding for iron ingots. Won’t release next crate until resolved.”

His fingers tap the laptop.

“They’ve been using the Dusk Protocol forums to arrange real-world trades,” I say.

His eyes sweep over my notes one section at a time. He stops on the lifespan clusters, tracing timestamps with his fingertip.

“These are all from the current archive?” he asks.

“Yep.”

A push of his feet sends his chair over to his online monitor, and his fingers fly over the keys. A new message window pops up.

Header: Lantern Key Games – Cybersecurity.

The purple-and-lime logo blinks.

His typing shifts into a clipped, staccato rhythm.

TO: Lantern Key Cybersecurity RE: Forum Archive Anomaly — Suspicious Transaction Activity

He types three tidy paragraphs, outlining the ghost materials, the coded meet-points, the short-lived accounts, and the repeated transaction phrases. Then, he copies over my file and drops it in the attachment field, no questions asked.

I rock on my heels. “Think they’ll act on it?”

Kain hits Send.

“That’s Julian’s problem now.” Kain’s hand finds my wrist, his thumb massaging circles over my racing pulse. “Good work, Bunny.”

The spreadsheet on my laptop pulls me back in.

Using my favorite game for their underhanded deals leaves a greasy sensation behind. It’s a personal violation of a game rooted in who I am.

And somewhere out there, these slimy trades are still happening.

But not for long. Julian Vey’s cyber security will take care of them, and Dusk Protocol will be pure again.

12

The third drone explodes before its health bar finishes appearing.

“Too slow.”

I dash through the blast, vault the broken railing, and drop into the next room before the game finishes tallying my clear bonus. Six enemies spawn around the arena.

Three melee. Two ranged. One shielded.

Easy.