Elara came in early. The QA floor was quiet, just the hum of machines and the muted chatter of other teams. Her desk—tucked away at the far edge—was as far from the main group as possible, a constant reminder of her exile. Her assigned work was the kind anyone could do: cross-checking minor bug reports from user complaints, low-priority enough that even an intern could handle them.
She didn't mind. It was what it was.
Until this morning.
The giant promo screen on the far wall was looping TitanCorp's new Throne Wars highlight reel. The first sequence showed the moment that had turned the tide: defenders turtled inside the Inner Sanctum, then suddenly, from the farthest wall, a squad plummeted down into the breach, healed on impact. Archers and mages above poured fire to cover their drop, and in the chaos, a fire mage's scream heralded a devastating barrage, ripping through nearly half of Meridian Fold's backline.
It was brilliant. Coordinated. And completely anonymous.
