Riven didn't waste time.
The moment the scout left, he tore his room apart—every device, every circuit, every piece of junk tech became fuel for his next move.
"If they're watching me...""I'm watching them back."
He didn't just want cameras.He wanted a ghost system—undetectable, decentralized, autonomous.
He called it: GhostNet.
Microdrones built from modified toy parts and salvaged optics. Rechargers hooked to solar scraps. Code written in dead languages, encoded through noise, routed off the grid.
In six hours, he had ten eyes in the sky. Watching alleyways. Watching rooftops.
And watching the man who knocked.
Riven watched him walk into an unmarked black car three blocks away.
Facial scan.Plate scan.Lip-read the conversation.
"Target confirmed. Subject 9 is active.""Orders?""Observe only. For now."
Riven leaned back, breath steady.
So he was a target.Subject 9.
"How many more are there?"
He looked at the gauntlet on his hand. Then at the expanding schematics on his screen.
GhostNet wasn't just defense anymore.
It was the start.
Of an empire.