Blackfire Technologies chose silence as its weapon.
At precisely 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time, every official Blackfire platform—its website, developer hub, corporate social accounts, and partner feeds—updated simultaneously. No fanfare. No build-up. No dramatic soundtrack.
Just a black screen.
Then white lettering appeared, sharp and minimalist.
Reality Quest launches in 72 hours.
Beneath it, a live countdown began.
Seconds ticked away.
Within minutes, servers across the internet felt the shockwave. Gaming forums crashed. Streaming platforms throttled traffic preemptively. Tech journalists abandoned scheduled stories to chase whatever Blackfire had just unleashed. Even companies that claimed indifference quietly opened internal channels marked Priority.
A follow-up press release arrived exactly thirty seconds later.
Short. Precise. Almost cold.
Reality Quest was complete.
All regions finalized.
All systems stress-tested.
No early access.
No closed beta.
No staggered release.
Everyone would enter the world at the same moment.
Then Blackfire went dark.
No interviews.
No press conference.
No developer diary.
The countdown kept running.
Inside Blackfire's headquarters, however, the atmosphere could not have been more different.
For the first time in over a year, tension loosened its grip.
Entire floors—once lit by the blue glow of sleepless monitors—were alive with laughter. Music drifted through the open spaces. Food stations lined the walls, staffed by caterers Derek had personally approved. Engineers who had memorized server metrics and latency curves now argued cheerfully about music and food. Laptops were closed. Screens were dark.
The work was done.
Derek Morgan watched it all from a quiet corner.
He stood apart from the crowd, dressed simply, almost invisibly. To most of the room, he looked like just another young developer—quiet, observant, slightly detached.
Only a handful knew better.
Alan Payne approached him, holding a drink he hadn't touched.
"You did it," Alan said quietly.
Derek shook his head. "They did."
Alan glanced around the room. "You realize this industry has never seen anything like this, right?"
"Industries rarely recognize revolutions until after they happen," Derek replied.
At six in the evening, Derek raised a hand. The music faded almost immediately.
The room fell silent.
"I won't keep you long," Derek said, his voice calm but steady. "Reality Quest is finished. That alone puts this team ahead of ninety-nine percent of the industry."
Murmurs of pride rippled through the crowd.
"You've earned seventy-two hours off," he continued. "If something breaks, we'll handle it remotely. Otherwise—go live your lives."
A pause.
"When the countdown ends," Derek said, meeting their eyes, "everything changes."
This time, the cheers were loud, unrestrained, almost relieved.
Derek didn't stay long after that. He slipped away quietly, long before the party reached its peak.
He had already moved on.
Hundreds of miles north, celebration had no place in Sacramento.
The governor's conference room was tense, the air thick with irritation and bruised pride. A digital projection dominated the wall—a satellite image of North Compton.
At its center stood the completed one-hundred-floor residential tower.
Finished.
Occupied.
Operational.
What had once been a neglected district was now a living system. Energy grids had been upgraded. Water infrastructure modernized. Crime statistics had dropped sharply. Small businesses had sprung up almost overnight to support the new population.
And the state hadn't authorized any of it.
"This wasn't redevelopment," a cabinet member said sharply. "This was a bypass of the entire regulatory process."
"And yet," another replied, "it worked."
"That's not the issue," someone snapped. "The issue is that we weren't involved."
The governor leaned back, fingers steepled.
"The Raven Corporation didn't ask permission," he said slowly. "And now they don't need it."
A folder slid across the table.
Derek Morgan.
Age: eighteen.
Public records: minimal.
Corporate structure: private, layered, opaque.
"Eighteen years old," an advisor scoffed. "Barely legal."
"Which makes him easier to influence," another added confidently.
"Or easier to underestimate," a quieter voice warned.
The room ignored it.
"What concerns me," the governor said, "is that Raven isn't asking for subsidies, grants, or protection."
Silence followed.
"They're building first," an aide said carefully. "Then letting reality justify them."
"That's backwards," someone muttered.
"No," the governor replied. "That's effective."
There was a pause.
"Approach him," the governor decided. "Not aggressively. We offer cooperation. Access. Legitimacy."
"And if he refuses?"
"He won't," an advisor said with certainty. "He's young. He'll want recognition."
None of them noticed the intern standing near the door, heart racing, listening too closely.
She stepped out moments later under the pretense of grabbing files.
Her phone was already in her hand.
She dialed a number she shouldn't have.
"I have a name," she whispered. "Derek Morgan. He's the one running the Raven Corporation."
On the other end of the line, a journalist stopped typing.
"Spell it."
By the time the intern returned to the room, the damage was already done.
Derek felt it before he saw it.
Not through news alerts—but through patterns.
Data requests spiked. Shell companies that normally attracted no attention began receiving probing inquiries. Financial tracking algorithms flagged unfamiliar observation behavior.
Someone had spoken his name.
He sat alone in his office, overlooking the city lights, calm and composed.
"So," he murmured, "they're ready to look."
On another screen, a live feed displayed North Compton's skyline. The one-hundred-floor residential building glowed softly, its windows alive with human presence.
That project was finished.
Reality Quest's countdown ticked closer to zero.
The world had benefited quietly from Derek Morgan's work for too long.
Now it wanted a face.
And soon—
It would get one.
If you want, next I can:
Write Chapter 38, focusing on the first media leak and public curiosity
Shift to Reality Quest's launch day chaos
Or escalate with government pressure vs. Derek's counterplay
Just tell me which direction you want next.