The Last Ledger

– THE OR

with unpredictable chaos, she thrived in routine. Mornings were always the same: a strong cup of coffee, the soft hum of her laptop warming up, and

others overlooked and delighting in the simplicity of logic. Life, she believed, was safest when predictable, and chaos-the

nds. Kira sat in her cubicle, her eyes scanning rows of financial reports with practiced ease. Coffee in hand, she felt the comforting rhy

efore returning her attention to the spreadsheet. She liked small connections, little threads of humanity that

felt different, almost... tense. She shook off the feeling. She had always been sensitive to anomalies, and this one didn't seem wor

deliver

ages, and this one bore no sender information. Normally, she would have left it for the receptionist to handle, but some

hiver ran down her spine, though she couldn't say why. No note, no instructions-nothing. She turned

adsheets-but also encrypted documents labeled with terms that hinted at illegal activity. She frowned, scanning the headings. There were company account

kened. Somethi

, and return to her safe, predictable routine-or dig deeper and risk uncovering something that could c

n shell companies, transactions timed to coincide with audits, and codes that hinted at bribery or worse. Kira's mind raced. Her analytic

e thought she was. The sensation of being watched crawled over her skin, making her skin prickle. Her rati

unfamiliar. She froze. No one was supposed to be there. Only the cleaning st

r desk drawer, forcing her hands to stop trembling.

wer. S

ved she could control her environment, predict outcomes-but

r at all, and she was now in the middle of something she could never have anticipated? She tried to calm hersel

e guise of an early lunch, the city streets outside bustling with oblivious life. To everyone else, it

o still, watching her as she walked. Kira's instincts screamed danger, but she told he

able life-the life she had curated carefully-was gone. Something she didn't yet und

lock herself away, ignore the files, and return to the safety of numbers-or she could c

n. A text appeared, u

ou have. Don't

a f

d by threats she didn't yet understand. And for the fi

ad the key to a secret powerful enough to de

eyond her door, the danger had

her, and the flash drive in her hands