6:21 p.m.

The city
shifted rhythm.

Crowds
gathered.

Lights
came alive.

Pre-event.

The most dangerous moment.

SID Operations Room.

One face on screen.

Rahim Muhammed

Not a shadow.

A man.

Middle Eastern features.

Calm eyes.

No emotion.

Not a killer.

An artist.

“He’s not like Song Ching,” said Lee Wai Hing.

“Song designs,” said Chang Hsin-Yan.

“He executes.”

“No,” I said.

They looked at me.

“He conducts.”

Silence shifted.

“Song builds structure.”

“Rahim controls experience.”

“Dosage.”

“Timing.”

“Trigger.”

“He decides—”

Pause.

“when a person stops being themselves.”

No one spoke.

Kim Min Jung:

“We have him.”

Location:

Central City.

Mass event.

“Estimated crowd: 30,000.”

Tension locked.

“This is not a test,” said Yim Bing.

“This is a demonstration.”

6:39 p.m.

Citywide deployment.

Invisible.

Sensors.

Flow tracking.

Signal intercept.

White Knights online.

“Multi-layer network.”

“Backup chains.”

“Trigger chain.”

“Not release,” said Tan Chih Lin.

“Condition-based activation.”

“Cut it,” I said.

“Ten minutes,” he replied.

6:49 p.m.

Scene.

Crowds.

Music.

Light.

Normal.

Rahim—

inside.

“Location?” I asked.

“East ventilation zone.”

I saw him.

Standing.

Listening.

“Confirmed.”

“Move.”

I approached.

He turned.

He knew.

“You’re just in time,” he said.

“It’s over,” I said.

“No.”

“It’s beginning.”

Then—

“Node found!” Tan Chih Lin.

“Cutting!”

“Outer chain down!”

“Backup down!”

“Third layer—blocked!”

“Authority tied to him!”

I looked at Rahim.

He raised his hand.

Like conducting.

“He’s waiting for conditions,” Chang Hsin-Yan said.

“Disrupt crowd flow!” I ordered.

Yim Bing moved.

Flow broke.

Rhythm shattered.

Rahim’s eyes changed.

“You don’t understand.”

I moved.

Close.

Fast.

He met me.

Not escape.

Engage.

Trained.

Precise.

We closed distance.

No room.

Only decisions.

Lock.

Counter.

Strike.

Block.

Yim Bing flanked.

Two-on-one.

He faltered—

“Cut!”

“Main chain down!”

“Trigger terminated!”

Silence.

Nothing happened.

Everything had.

Rahim smiled.

“You stopped one.”

I said nothing.

“You’ve already seen it.”

He looked at the crowd.

“This is just the beginning.”

I ended it.

8:06 p.m.

SID Operations Room.

Rahim secured.

Data extracted.

KARAM network—

expanded.

Clearer.

Larger.

More dangerous.

“This isn’t a line,” said Chang Hsin-Yan.

“It’s a web.”

“What’s next?” Lee Wai Hing asked.

I looked at it.

“We go in.”

No one spoke.

No way back.

The screen glowed.

Cold.

Sharp.

And this time—

the blade

was in our hands.