POV: Chairman - Awakened Association HQ
The elegant ambiance of the high-security chamber did little to soothe the Chairman's building migraine.
A data pad hovered in front of him, flicking through tab after tab of red-flagged intel reports, diplomatic cables, covert activity summaries, and threat analysis updates, all stamped with the same three-syllable name.
Kaiden.
He exhaled slowly through his nose. Not out of frustration. Not even out of disbelief. But because this was exactly what he'd expected.
What he hadn't expected… was that it would all happen within twenty-four hours.
"Current estimates project we've diverted resources equivalent to a small-tier city defense operation," a robotic voice read off one of the memos. "And that's just to maintain shadow ops around the target's vicinity and deter foreign contact."
The Chairman pinched the bridge of his nose and looked across the polished table before him.