Two Days Later

  A sharp knock echoed through the brightly lit office. Seven didn’t look up immediately. He finished running a set of command lines and scanned the encrypted logs. It had been a relentless cycle of coding, testing, and embedding invisible breadcrumbs within the system he was building—enough for FCPD to track yet evade Talon’s scrutiny.

  He exhaled, rolled his shoulders back, and shut the laptop.

  The door swung open.

  Talon Cloche stepped inside, exuding quiet menace. He didn’t need to speak to command attention; his presence did that well enough. Dressed in a tailored black suit, he moved with the confidence of a man who always got what he wanted. And right now, he wanted results.

  Two men trailed behind him. They weren’t the usual muscle. One was wiry, with an angular jaw and the restless energy of someone who spent their days in front of a screen rather than with people. The other, bulkier with sharp eyes, carried the air of a seasoned hacker. Their arrival confirmed what Seven already suspected; this wasn’t a routine check-in.

  Seven pushed his laptop slightly to the side, discreetly pressing the button under the desk to activate the in-room surveillance recording. Then, he laced his fingers together casually. “Didn’t expect you so soon.”

  Talon smirked. “We both know that’s a lie.”

  Seven didn’t refute. He’d been preparing for this—building what Talon expected to see while ensuring what he’d embedded remained undetected.

  Talon gestured toward the laptop. “Show them.”

  Seven opened it. The screen cast a pale glow between them as the interface booted smoothly. A sleek dashboard displayed mock wallet balances, encrypted transfer histories, and a send/receive function.

  “The core framework’s in place,” Seven said evenly. “Each digital chip is backed by a transient distributed-ledger wallet that dissolves after cash-out.” He tapped a key, bringing up a secondary display filled with lines of code. “Encryption is implemented. Transfers cycle through staged betting loops before they reach final wallets, ensuring they appear as organic gambling activity.”

  The bulkier man stepped forward, his gaze flicking briefly to Seven. “How is the transaction cloaking handled?”

  “Multi-layered,” Seven replied. “Every chip is pegged to a smart contract that routes through randomized gaming events. The final payout is split into staggered withdrawals, further masking its origin. Each tier uses a different encryption method to avoid pattern recognition. Additionally, winnings can be re-bet automatically by preset bots to simulate real gambler behavior.”

  He studied the lines of code, fingers hovering just above the keyboard. “Logs?”

  Seven clicked another tab. “Wiped after every session. No transfer metadata is stored. All records are replaced with anonymized chip movements embedded into blockchain event logs—impossible to differentiate from real gambling data.”

  The wiry man’s fingers twitched, itching to test it himself. “Any vulnerabilities?”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Seven shrugged. “Hey, it’s merely been a week. That’s what I’m refining. I need to optimize the zero-knowledge proof scheme to ensure that even internal audits won’t reveal the cloaking pattern.”

  Talon finally spoke. “You said it would take one to two months.”

  Seven inclined his head. “That timeline still holds.”

  The bulkier man tapped a few keys, running a simulation. On the surface, it was flawless. Funds in, funds out, no traceable connection.

  Then he let out a low whistle. “Not bad.”

  But they didn’t detect the hidden tier Seven had embedded, a concealed metadata stream feeding transaction footprints to a remote server only he and the FCPD had access to. Instead of direct tracking, Seven had embedded steganographic markers within the blockchain contracts themselves, ensuring FCPD could validate illicit activity without exposing their presence.

  Talon stared briefly at Seven. “You’ve bought yourself another step. Don’t waste it.”

  Seven snorted. “I don’t squander chances.”

  Talon regarded him for a beat longer, then straightened. “When’s the next update?”

  “Two weeks.”

  Without another word, he turned and walked out, his companions following. The lean one glanced back once, as if committing Seven’s face to memory, then disappeared through the doorway.

  The door clicked shut. Silence settled over the room. Seven turned off the recording and released a breath only when he was alone.

  Talon Cloche strode briskly down the hallway, his men trailing behind him. The moment they stepped outside, he let the cool mid-afternoon air wash over him, processing everything he’d just seen. He had expected progress, but what Seven had built in only a few days was… impressive.

  He turned to his men. “Talk.”

  Blazer, the lean one, ran a hand through his short-cropped hair, still buzzing from the meeting. “For only a week of work? It’s insane. The encryption tiers are solid, transfer mixing is functional, and there’s no visible data trail. If he keeps up this pace, we’ll have a fully operational system before the opening.”

  Talon turned to Moros, who appeared more skeptical.

  “It’s better than expected,” Moros admitted, crossing his arms. “That’s what’s bugging me.”

  Blazer frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Moros let out a measured breath. “He took only seven days to build something this polished. Sure, it’s not finished, but everything he’s done is seamless. No debugging quirks. No trial-and-error kinks. He’s either a machine or… he had this prepped already.”

  Talon’s gaze darkened slightly. “You think he’s feeding us pre-built components?”

  Moros shrugged. “Hard to tell. But I expected more scaffolding, rougher patches, half-baked logic while he refined things. Instead, he’s presenting clean solutions right out of the gate. Either he’s leveraging federal-grade cryptographic libraries, or he has an advantage we don’t know about.”

  Blazer scoffed. “Come on. You’re overthinking it. The guy’s probably that good. Data Dynamics wouldn’t bring in a half-assed guy for such a senior position.”

  Talon let them go back and forth before cutting in. “He’s involved in Data Dynamics’ project developing fintech regulation tools for federal agencies.”

  “No wonder,” his doubts allayed.

  “Does the system work?”

  Moros gave a slow nod. “Yeah. For what it is right now? It works.”

  Talon smirked. “Then he’s bought himself more time.”

  He pulled out his phone and typed out a message:

  [Keep eyes on him. We need leverage.]

  Then, slipping the device back into his pocket, he added, “But we can’t trust him blindly. Scrutinize his work at the next update.”

  Moros and Blazer exchanged a knowing glance and climbed into the waiting sedans, the engines purring as they drove off, one after the other.

  ……

  Meanwhile, back in his office, Seven watched from the floor-to-ceiling windows as Talon’s entourage pulled away. Only when they were gone did he let his shoulders drop slightly.

  He clicked open a secure messaging app.

  Encrypted FCPD Ops Chat

  Seven: [Check-in complete. You get all that?]

  A moment later, the chat buzzed.

  FCPD_Tech_Lead (Max): [Every frame.]

  FCPD_Tech_Lead (Max): [Your mirror layer works. Blockchain markers are embedding perfectly.]

  Seven: [Talon brought two guys to evaluate it. Both seem seasoned.]

  Seven: [I won’t let my guard down.]

  He closed the chat and leaned back, rubbing his temple.

  Tick, tick, tick.

  He had built the illusion. Now, he had to ensure Talon’s team never uncovered the hidden layer. Otherwise, it’s game over.

  VERY SPECIAL MESSAGE will appear with next Tuesday’s release. Stay tuned.

  if you want to read ahead. If not, see you here on Tuesday, 8pm SGT, (+8 GMT)