The attack didn't come as an accusation.
It came as a question.
Is Elias Murphy safe to follow?Is medicine becoming dependent on one man?What happens when he's wrong?
The headlines spread carefully.
Not hostile.
Concerned.
Calculated.
Anonymous "experts" appeared on panels.
Former colleagues spoke in vague tones.
"We're not saying he's dangerous," one said. "We're saying concentration of influence is… unprecedented."
The implication was enough.
Doubt doesn't need proof.
It needs repetition.
Hospitals began distancing.
Invitations rescinded.Panels postponed.Committees delayed "pending review."
Not banning him.
Freezing him.
Celeste watched it unfold with cold focus.
"They're attempting reputational suffocation," she said. "Slow. Polite. Bloodless."
"Will it work?" Dr. Lim asked.
"Only if Elias reacts emotionally," Celeste replied.
Elias didn't.
Instead, he went to work.
No statements.
No defenses.
Just outcomes.
Every day.
Uninterrupted.
Unimpeachable.
Then came the first formal move.
A federal ethics inquiry.
No charges.
Just concerns.
Subpoenas followed.
Document requests. Communications. Case histories.
Fishing.
"They want you tired," Celeste said. "Distracted. Reactive."
"I am none of those," Elias replied.
The hearing room was packed.
Elias sat alone at the table.
No entourage.
No counsel.
Celeste watched from the gallery—not as backup, but as restraint.
The lead examiner leaned forward.
"Dr. Murphy, do you believe you are above medical consensus?"
"No," Elias said. "I believe consensus lags reality."
A pause.
"And who decides what reality is?"
"Reality does."
Murmurs rippled.
They pressed harder.
Your abilities.Your influence.Your reach.
Elias answered precisely.
Never defensive.
Never arrogant.
Just accurate.
The inquiry stalled.
Not because Elias dominated—
But because there was nothing to accuse.
No harm.
No profit.
No leverage.
Afterward, outside the chamber, cameras surged.
Elias said nothing.
Celeste stepped forward.
"This investigation confirms one thing," she said clearly. "Truth does not need permission."
Then she walked away.
That night, backlash intensified.
They couldn't silence Elias.
So they tried to isolate him.
Colleagues grew cautious again.
Distance returned.
Shaun spoke quietly in the diagnostics wing.
"Social exclusion is an evolutionary control mechanism."
"Yes," Elias replied.
"It is designed to modify behavior."
"Yes."
"Is it effective on you?"
Elias met his gaze.
"No."
But even immunity has cost.
And Elias felt it—not as doubt, but as weight.
Not loneliness.
Responsibility.
Somewhere else, the open standard continued to spread.
Quietly.
Irreversibly.
The truth doesn't need defenders.
It needs time.
The attempt to silence Elias Murphy failed.
But it wasn't over.
Not yet.
Because when power can't erase you—
It tries to replace you.