Xavier POV

Project Heir

The file wasn’t a threat. It was a prophecy.

The flash drive felt wrong in my hand, too light, too hot, like a coin taken from the mouth of something that still dreamed.

I’d seen enough data and deception to know a thumb-drive wasn’t a simple thing anymore.

It was a trap, or a bomb, or a confession depending on which way you held it.

I shut the office door and dropped the dead weight of the day behind me.

The blinds were drawn; the city beyond them was a blur of ...