The headlines dropped at midnight.
Not dramatic.
Not loud.
Precise.
UNREGISTERED CULTIVATORS SEIZE DOCKSIDE
ILLEGAL POWER ZONE THREATENS CITY STABILITY
REGISTRY WARNS OF CIVILIAN RISK
By morning, Dockside felt different.
People still worked. Still moved. Still trusted Alpha.
But doubt had entered the air.
Alpha felt it immediately.
[Shadow Sense: Emotional Drift — Fear Amplification Detected]
Not natural.
Seeded.
Engineered.
Rex slammed his tablet down. "They're not lying outright," he said. "They're framing. Half-truths. Selective footage."
Nyx watched a clip silently.
A slowed video of Kade collapsing.
A freeze-frame of Alpha standing over him.
A caption: Unregulated Leader Dominates Unstable Individual.
"They're making you look like the danger," Nyx said.
Alpha nodded. "Because I am."
She looked at him sharply.
"To them," he added. "To the idea of control."
Outside, a small crowd gathered near the yard gates.
Not hostile.
Uncertain.
A man shouted, "Are we safe?"
A woman followed, "They say this place is unstable!"
Alpha walked out to meet them.
No speech.
No stage.
He stood where everyone could see him.
"You are safe," Alpha said simply.
Someone asked, "For how long?"
Alpha didn't answer immediately.
He felt the Guardian Anchor pull—not demanding, but asking.
He chose his words carefully.
"As long as I'm here," he said.
Silence.
That wasn't reassurance.
That was responsibility.
[Territory Bond: Leadership Load Increased]
Inside the warehouse, Kade convulsed suddenly.
Nyx caught it instantly.
"His fractures are reacting," she said. "The smear campaign—fear—it's destabilizing him."
Rex frowned. "Media's hurting him?"
Nyx nodded. "Third-path users resonate with perception. He's already broken. Public fear is pushing him apart."
Alpha closed his eyes briefly.
So this was the Registry's real weapon.
Not enforcement.
Narrative pressure.
Alpha made a decision.
"Rex," he said. "Open the yard."
Rex blinked. "Fully?"
"Yes."
Nyx looked at Alpha. "If something happens—"
"It will," Alpha said. "But not hiding."
By noon, Dockside became transparent.
Cameras allowed. Walk-ins supervised. No secrecy.
People came.
They saw order. Work. Calm.
They saw Kade—not as a monster, but as a warning.
[Counter-Narrative Action: Transparency Protocol — Active]
The headlines faltered.
Not reversed.
But questioned.
Elsewhere, Chairman Lu watched engagement metrics drop.
"Public fear isn't holding," an aide said.
Lu's eyes narrowed.
"Then escalate the pressure point," he said.
"Which one?"
Lu answered quietly.
"The girl."
Nyx shivered.
She felt it.
Someone, somewhere, had just decided she was the weakness.
[Incoming Threat Vector: FMC Targeted — INDIRECT]
Alpha looked up sharply.
He felt it too.
The smear campaign wasn't the test.
This was.