Chapter 6: The Shadow of the Sentinel
The sunrise over New Raven City did not bring warmth; it brought the cold, hard light of a new reality. At the summit of the Sentinel Corporate Tower, the glass floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view of a city that Stanley McCain now partially owned. He stood in the center of the penthouse office, his bronze-toned skin hidden beneath a bespoke midnight-blue suit.
Across from him, Elias sat in a plush leather chair, looking down at a fountain pen that cost more than his previous month's wages. The man looked overwhelmed, but there was a new spark of hope in his eyes.
"The lawyers finalized the paperwork, Stan," Elias said, his voice trembling. "My ex-wife... she called this morning. She heard I was the CEO. She tried to say she only left to 'find herself' and wanted to come home. I told her the only thing she'd be finding is a restraining order."
Stanley nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Good. Don't let the past anchors pull you down, Elias. You have a daughter to raise and a company to lead. I've installed a Vanguard security team on the bottom three floors. They'll look like standard guards, but they're trained to handle things that aren't human."
"And what about you?" Elias asked. "You're not staying here, are you?"
"I have a different kind of construction to finish," Stanley replied.
The heavy oak doors to the office swung open. Dr. Amara walked in, her white lab coat replaced by a sharp, charcoal-grey blazer. She looked like a high-level executive, but the tablet in her hand was displaying a complex satellite sweep of the city's energy grid. She gave Stanley the familiar, frosty cold shoulder, moving past him as if he were part of the furniture.
"The 'Collector' you destroyed at the facility was a Mark-I Scout," Amara said, addressing the room but looking only at her screen. "The signal it sent back before it was neutralized was encrypted, but the source was local. There is a 'Supporter' cell operating inside the city's industrial district. Someone is helping the synthetic aliens pinpoint cultivation signatures."
"Then we go to the source," Stanley said.
"We?" Amara finally looked at him, her eyes sharp. "You just reached the Muscle-Tempering stage, Stanley. You're a walking lighthouse to them. If you walk into that district, you're inviting an army."
"Then let them come," Stanley replied. "I'm tired of hiding in the dust."el