Langley, Virginia
Inside the NSA's Cyber Threat Operations Center, the whole place was quiet, until a crimson line blinked across the top of the dashboard.
"Trending anomaly detected," the automated alert read. Keyword cluster: #Lucid | #NovaTech | #FutureOfGaming.
A young analyst named Marcus Denevier frowned at his screen. The system's AI only pinged this category when a pattern matched potential dual-use technology—hardware capable of civilian and military applications.
"Sir," he called softly to the watch supervisor, "you'll want to see this."
The supervisor, a weary man with a coffee mug in hand, leaned over. "Talk to me."
