Chapter 7: The Arrest Record
The cold metal of the cruiser hood pressed hard against Marcus’s chest as two tactical officers forced his arms down, clicking a fresh set of steel handcuffs into place. The crowd on the sidewalk surged forward, phones held high, shouting protests at the sudden escalation of force.
Director Sterling snatched his phone back, his face flushed with fury as the progress bar on his screen hit 100%, followed immediately by a system-wide crash notification. "Where did it go?" Sterling demanded, grabbing Captain Hayes by the collar of his pristine uniform shirt. "Who did he send the mirror server to?"
Hayes coughed, struggling to maintain his composure under the director's grip. "I don't know! We locked down the local cell towers twenty minutes ago!"
"Not the cell towers," a calm voice spoke from behind the cordon. Agent Vance stood with his hands raised deliberately in the air, watching the chaos unfold. "You forgot about the legacy satellite uplink installed in the truck bed. It bypasses terrestrial relays entirely."
Sterling dropped Hayes and turned sharply toward Vance. "You planned this. You and this civilian set a trap."
"We just followed the paper trail you tried to bury," Vance replied, stepping closer to Marcus.
One of the tactical officers pulled Marcus upright, dragging him toward the back of the unmarked van. "Move, civilian. You're coming with us under Section 4 of the Patriot Oversight Act."
Marcus didn't resist. As he was pushed into the dark interior of the van, he caught a glimpse of the classic blue Chevrolet. The rear tailgate slowly unlatched itself with a mechanical hiss. A small, black drone lifted out from a hidden compartment beneath the truck bed, silently rising into the hazy afternoon sky before darting away toward the horizon.
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Director Sterling saw the drone too late, firing his service pistol into the empty air, the loud pop echoing down the quiet residential street.
The heavy van doors slammed shut, plunging Marcus into absolute darkness as the vehicle's engine roared to life, tearing away from the curb and leaving the suburban neighborhood far behind.
