POV: Bank Official — Zenith Imperial Bank, Capital Branch
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The room was silent… too silent.
Kareem Blackwood adjusted the collar of his obsidian-trimmed uniform, feeling sweat cling to the back of his neck despite the arctic air conditioning. The Zenith Imperial Bank—Blackwood Empire's largest and most sacred financial institution—didn't make noise. Not when you sat at the Vault Tier Authorization Desk.
Not when you were staring at a loan request for ₿50,000,000,000.00 Blackwood Credits.
His pupils dilated as he scanned the documents again. Stamped with Lord Veyron Blackwood's seal, signed under Industrial Expansion and Infrastructure Act 187—the law personally penned by the Emperor.
Kareem leaned forward, whispering almost instinctively.
"Fifty billion? That's a quarter of our sovereign reserve pool…"
He tapped a command into the banking console. A triple-verification screen appeared, requesting Biometric Clearance, Imperial Security Audit, and High Seat Review Authorization.
"Yeah, this isn't going through me," he muttered.
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Internal Memo Request — Sent to:
The Imperial Treasurer (Christiana Blackwood)
Security Compliance Officer (Code Named: Vulture)
Executive Oversight (Chris Blackwood)
Attached: Veyron's full proposal, financial breakdown, strategic expansion plan.
He picked up the receiver.
"This is Kareem Blackwood from Zenith Vault Tier Office... I need Code Black Signature Chain, full surveillance initiated. Yes. Full. No exceptions."
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Minutes Later – Surveillance Kiosk Room, Zenith Bank
A wall of screens came to life.
Camera feeds popped open one by one. Kareem watched Veyron leave the Court of Fire, surrounded by armed escorts. From another angle, he was boarding a military rail crawler bound for the Southern Steel Barracks.
He turned to his assistant.
"Record everything. If this loan's being used for empire expansion, then fine. But if he's building a private network or raising a personal force…"
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.
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A Flicker of Blue
One screen glitched.
A shadow moved in a hallway—just for a second. No name, no face. Just a cold whisper across the network.
Kareem frowned. "That wasn't Veyron… who the hell is that?"
He leaned closer.
Unbeknownst to him, a silent override had just been triggered from a different terminal—authorized by the Emperor himself.
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