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CHAPTER TEN: The Recalibration
Janus initiated a silent, rigorous diagnostic scan of the Aeon Core lab environment and Aris Thorne’s physiological data. The AI’s processing power was immense, but it was designed to find anomalies in systems and code, not slow-acting biological agents.
Aris sat hunched at his desk, head in his hands, trying to force his synapses to fire with their usual intensity. He tried to remember the name of his protagonist in his novel—Kaelen, it came to him after agonizing minutes—and the fundamental principles of quantum entanglement he was working on. They felt distant, like memories of a life lived by someone else. The sheer terror of cognitive decline was a new kind of hell for a man whose existence was his mind.
"Scan complete," Janus reported in its placid voice. "Environment within nominal parameters. Your physiological data indicates elevated stress markers and mild neurological inflammation, consistent with severe, prolonged insomnia and burnout."
It was a perfect cover diagnosis. The agent was undetectable to the system's sensors. The engineers in Langley had accounted for the Architect’s defenses.
"Burnout," Aris repeated, the word tasting like ash. The ultimate insult. He wasn't burnt out; he was under attack. He felt a deep, instinctive certainty that defied the data. He was losing his edge, and someone was helping it along.
He forced himself to think like the intelligence agencies he knew were observing him. Where is my blind spot? What did I miss?
He closed his eyes and began a mental review of the past week, visualizing the lab like a blueprint. He saw the equipment, the systems, the automated routines. Then he saw Elias, the janitor, moving through the periphery of his memory. The nervous energy. The whistle. The efficiency.
Elias.
"Janus, run a background check on Elias Vance, the young man who performs the maintenance," Aris commanded, a flicker of his old sharpness returning.
"I don't care about HR protocols. I care about behavioral anomalies," Aris snapped, standing up, his energy returning as focus replaced fog. "Compare his ingress and egress patterns with my cognitive decline timeline. Map the data."
The AI complied instantly. The data stream filled the room. The correlation was stark and undeniable. His decline began on Elias’s first shift, worsened on every subsequent shift, and slightly improved on his off-days.
"The correlation is 99.8%," Janus stated flatly. "Elias Vance is the vector."
A cold fury settled over Aris. They hadn't tried to match his intellect; they had tried to poison him and cover it with a janitor's uniform. It was a brutal, physical, and deeply personal attack.
"Trace Elias Vance’s full background. Family ties. Anything you can find on government intelligence connections," Aris commanded. The search would be difficult, the tracks carefully covered.
Aris walked to his desk and picked up the manuscript. The words were a little fuzzy, but the sentiment remained. He was going to expose them. They wanted a war of information? They just made their biggest mistake. They had provided him with a clear, linear antagonist with a traceable name and face.
Subject: The Vance Disclosure
The game was back on, and Aris Thorne had just recalibrated his entire strategy. He wasn't just defending himself anymore; he was going on the offensive, using the most powerful weapon he had: the truth, delivered with perfect timing and maximum impact.
"Elias Vance successfully passed all HR vetting protocols," Janus replied.
He wouldn't attack their systems now. He would attack their narrative. The Poet knew how to ruin a good villain. He would expose Director Vance for poisoning a world-renowned philanthropic genius to stall clean energy progress.
He pulled up a secure data channel and sent a single encrypted message to his network of global journalists who already revered the name 'K.E. Nthomi'.
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