The evening draped itself across the city like a silk curtain, soft and slow. At Axis Goods, warm light spilled across polished counters and neatly arranged shelves. Alexis stood behind the register, scanning the last item of the day—a can of instant coffee with a faded label. The scanner beeped with mechanical finality.
Outside, streetlights hummed to life. Inside, the calm was deliberate, like a stage set just for him.
He reached for the receipt, but the system pinged softly in his ear.
System: "Ping from Nova. Civilian ring batch Alpha-7 ready for deployment."
"Delay shipment by forty-eight hours. Have packaging include non-traceable cultural anchors," he murmured.
System: "Understood. Would you like a holographic seal or a kinetic lock trigger for the package chip?"
"Holographic. Let them feel it's magic."
The door jingled.
Iris.
Alexis didn't look up right away. He could feel her eyes sweep the room—habitual, calculated. She strolled the aisles like any other customer, but she never really looked at the products. Her focus always returned to him.
She held up a pack of gum. "You ever get bored in here, Alexis?"
"All the time," he replied, handing her the change. "But boredom keeps me honest."
System (quietly): "Her heart rate spiked again."
"She probably just had coffee."
System: "She also typed your name into six academic databases this week."
He ignored it. "Try the lemon flavor. It's criminally underrated."
Iris raised an eyebrow. "You're oddly charming when you're tired."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
She offered a smile—curious, but unreadable—and left without another word.
As the bell chimed behind her, Alexis tapped into the internal network with a finger behind the counter. A map expanded on a concealed screen below. Dots blinked across continents. Silver dots—the upcoming Tier-2 operatives—marked countries like small embers.
Nova's voice came through. "Packaging complete. Embedded chips are set to destroy if tampered with. Clean route channels established."
"And the civilian filters?"
"All passed. Psychometric tags logged. We're ready."
He nodded.
Across the World
In Paris, a florist unpacked a box of rare tulip bulbs and found a velvet pouch beneath them.
In Cape Town, a vinyl record collector flipped through a crate and discovered an envelope stitched into the liner.
In Seoul, a museum curator received an old manuscript—with a small silver ring tucked between the pages.
None of them knew the others.
But all would soon feel the weight of silence.
At Axis HQ, Alexis activated the global trace log. The Halberd Circle had stirred again.
"They're trying to manipulate indexes through symbolic trading again," Nova reported. "Subtle, but the algorithm flagged it."
"They still think we're a bluff," Alexis said.
System: "Consortium 7B believes God's Axis is a psychological deterrent, not an active power structure."
He leaned back. "Let them play with their mirrors."
Later that evening, he sat on a stool by the store window. From outside, a passing glance would only see a young man reading a book beneath warm lights. Nothing more.
But behind the veneer of a civil smile, Alexis Prince—Adam of Axis—watched the threads beneath the glass.
In his hand, the Sorvigean Ring caught a reflection.
System: "Final dispatch wave ready. Shall I initiate phase two with coded invites for Tier-2 onboarding?"
He didn't answer immediately.
From across the street, Iris looked back again—just once. Her gaze lingered on his silhouette in the window. She tilted her head.
Why do you feel like smoke in the shape of a man?
Inside, Alexis finally said, "Yes. Initiate phase two. And give them a reason to believe in ghosts."