Year: 2035 — Islamabad
Pakistan had enjoyed eight quiet years.
The Tajdeed reforms had become doctrine.
SeedNet was absorbed into national planning.
But peace has predators.
---
The Crisis: Phantom Grid
In the winter of 2035, the national digital grid was hijacked.
Power distribution halted in 41 districts.
Hospitals lost access to cloud diagnostics.
AI traffic systems failed, causing a 230-car pile-up in Lahore.
Defense communications scrambled.
The attack wasn't foreign.
It was internal—from a rogue faction of technocrats and AI researchers attempting a "correction" of the republic through autonomous digital governance.
They called themselves The Directive.
Their claim: "Pakistan must evolve beyond human-led democracy."
And they had the tools to force it.
---
Panic in the Capital
The president's emergency team, half trained under Seed-era systems, froze.
Parliament was evacuated.
The digital war room was compromised.
In the middle of this chaos, Zara—now Head of National Resilience Council—reached for a dusty file marked: Shadow Protocol: Legacy Override
Inside it was a name.
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Skardu — 2:33 AM
An encrypted line opened.
A voice answered calmly.
> "You waited long."
Zara: "We thought the tree was strong."
Rayan: "It is. But weeds always return."
She paused. "You said you'd never come back."
He replied:
> "I'm not coming back.
I'm just pruning a branch."