Chapter 110 Protocol Terminus Activation
The family meeting happened in the only place they could think of that wasn’t their home, wasn’t bugged, and wasn’t predictable.
The bakery, at 3 AM.
“I feel like we’re in a mob movie,” Lily said, watching Aiden check the windows for the third time.
“We basically are,” Marcus muttered. He’d arrived through the back entrance, visible limp more pronounced. “Except the mob has better lawyers.”
Elena and Ethan were with a babysitter…not Rebecca, obviously…someone Claire had known for thirty years. One of the few people left they could trust. Maybe.
Ariella spread Geoffrey Hale’s documents across the industrial counter where her mother shaped bread every morning. Flour dust made everything feel surreal. Like they were planning a war in a place designed for comfort food.
“David Park says they’re planning to kill everyone who might vote against them,” she said without preamble. “Before the anniversary. Before the board vote can even happen.”
“David Park who disappeared three years ago?” Marcus said. “The one we suspected was a mole?”
“Was a mole. He claims he defected. Saved Elena. Been hiding since.”
“And you believe him?”
“I don’t know what I believe anymore.” Ariella looked around the room, then at Aiden, Lily, Marcus and her mother in the corner, hands wrapped around tea, listening. “But I know the network has killed seventy-three people we can document, What’s five more if it protects their empire?”
“Who are the five?” Claire asked quietly.
Ariella listed them: “Sarah Brennan, Marcus, Geoffrey Hale, Me, and Aiden.”
“Not Lily?” Claire asked.
“She’s not on the board, so she's not a threat. Yet.”
“Yet,” Lily repeated bitterly.
“So let's go into protection,” Marcus said. “Full FBI…”
“You just told us someone in the protection detail is compromised,” Aiden interrupted. “How do we know the FBI safe house isn’t the most dangerous place we could be?”
“We don’t.”
Silence.
“I have an idea,” Lily said.
Everyone looked at her.
“Lets leak the contract clause, the board vote and Everything. We have to repeat what we did three years ago, make it so public they can’t kill us without the whole world watching.”
“That didn’t stop them three years ago,” Ariella said. “They killed two hundred and seventeen people during Omega, Public attention didn’t save them.”
“But those people weren’t broadcasting live. They weren’t…” Lily grabbed her sketchbook, started drawing rapidly. “We have to set up a livestream, Continuously Twenty-four seven. All five board members present. We’ll rotate who’s on camera, narrate everything. Every threat. Every attempt. And make it impossible for them to move without documentation.”
“For six weeks?” Marcus said. “You want us to livestream our lives for six weeks?”
“I want us to livestream our survival for six weeks,” Lily corrected. “The network operates in shadows, So we have to eliminate all shadows.”
Aiden was already seeing it. “It could work. We used it in Times Square and it bought us enough time…”
“Until they decided to kill everyone anyway,” Ariella reminded him.
“But we’re still here. The publicity saved us. Made it too messy to eliminate cleanly.”
“This is different, this is sustained attention. Six weeks of the public watching us paranoid and scared. Six weeks of proving to everyone that the network is still operating…” Marcus shook his head. “It’s exhausting just thinking about it.”
“Better exhausted than dead,” Lily said.
Claire set down her tea. “Where do we broadcast from?”
“Here,” Lily said immediately. “The bakery, a Public business with people always around. Cameras are already installed for security, all we have to do is set up a studio in the back room and Rotate shifts. Someone’s always on camera, always talking, always…”
“Always bait,” Ariella finished. “We’re making ourselves bait.”
“We’re making ourselves too expensive to kill,” Lily corrected. “There’s a difference.”
Marcus pulled out his phone and Started calculating. “We’d need equipment, and Backup power. Security that we actually trust…which means hiring outside the FBI…”
“I have contacts,” Aiden said. “Private security. Former military. People who owe me favors from the company restructuring.”
“And I have journalist contacts,” a voice said from the doorway.
They all spun.
Jessica Reeves stood there. Backlit. Dramatic. Completely herself.
“How did you…” Ariella started.
“I’ve been watching the bakery since you called the family meeting. Figured if everyone was gathering here, something was happening.” She walked in, set down her camera bag. “And before you ask…no, I wasn’t followed. Yes, I swept for trackers. And yes, I’m willing to help with this insane publicity stunt because it’s exactly the kind of insane publicity stunt that got us eighty million viewers last time.”
“You’ve been listening,” Marcus said flatly.
“I’ve been surviving. Same as all of you. And if the network is activating Protocol Terminus…yes, I know the name, I have sources…then we’re all targets eventually. Might as well go down swinging.” She looked at Lily. “You want to livestream? I’ll produce. But we will do it right. Not just cameras and hope. Actual production value. Actual strategy.”
“What kind of strategy?” Lily asked.
Jessica pulled out her laptop. Opened it. Showed them a mock-up she’d apparently been working on while eavesdropping.
“We don’t just show your lives, We tell a story. The story of five people trying to vote against a criminal network. We introduce Geoffrey Hale. Let him tell his story on camera, then we bring in Sarah Brennan, Marcus, and make them human. We make people care.” Her fingers flew across keys. “And we don’t just stream, We will create content, Daily updates, Behind-the-scenes footage. We have to turn this into appointment viewing. Something people check every day because they’re invested in whether you survive.”
“You want to make our survival into entertainment,” Aiden said slowly.
“I want to make your survival into immunity. The network can kill people nobody’s watching. But can they kill people that fifty million are checking on daily? People who have names and faces and stories?” Jessica looked around the room. “We made you heroes three years ago. We can do it again. But this time, this time we will sustain it for six weeks Until the board vote, Until you win.”
“And if we don’t?” Claire asked. “If the network finds a way anyway?”
“Then at least the world knows what happened. At least there’s a record. At least…” Jessica’s voice caught. “At least they can’t make you disappear like they did to so many others.”