Chapter 41: Ghost In The System
Orion sat at the edge of his bed, fingers hovering over his wrist-com. His mind was still tangled with what he had just learned—Leonidas' rise in the rankings, the sudden shift in competition dynamics—but there was something else gnawing at him, something deeper than the tournament itself.
He needed to talk to his father.
If anyone could make sense of this chaos, it was him.
Exhaling sharply, Orion ran a hand through his hair before initiating a secure line. His interface flickered as encrypted seals spun, cycling through verification protocols as it attempted to establish contact. Waiting for response.
And then—
"Unable to establish contact. Cassian Reyes has been out of a contact zone for 31 days."
Orion stared at the words. Thirty-one days?
His father had been unreachable for an entire month?
That wasn't normal. Cassian Reyes wasn't the type to vanish without leaving some kind of trace. Even during deep-space campaigns, even in war zones, he always left contingencies—secure relays, pre-scheduled messages, hidden channels. Even at his busiest, there was always a way to reach him.
A cold weight settled in Orion's stomach.
This wasn't just unusual. This was wrong.