The Los Angeles air felt different—not just in temperature, but in rhythm. Faster. Looser. As if the very molecules had given up on precision in favor of possibility.
Leon Daniel Vas stepped out of the international terminal wearing the same grayscale uniform he had back in London. He carried no luggage that mattered—everything essential was encrypted, embedded, or mentally archived.
A private driver waited with a placard that simply read: L. Vas. No one gave it a second glance.
As the vehicle pulled away from LAX, Leon watched the city unfold through tinted glass. Billboards. Palm trees. Surveillance cameras. The neon pulse of tech-funded culture. It was louder than London, more chaotic—but also more penetrable.
SYSTEM: New Region Detected — North America: West Coast Node
SP Valuation Matrix Recalibrating Based on Regional Innovation Density, Media Influence, and Political Corruption Index...
Weight Multiplier Modifier: +17% (Preliminary)
Interesting. America wasn't just volatile—it was lucrative.
The car passed by UCLA. Then by a generic Caltech banner hanging over a STEM outreach billboard. It was all noise, but noise with utility. The narrative was in place: a hyper-advanced British-American teen on academic fast track, enrolled in an independent innovation program with full familial support.
It was perfect cover.
The driver pulled up to a gated hillside residence—the American half of the Vas family's real estate portfolio. Leon stepped out. The house was large but not ostentatious. It overlooked downtown LA like a sniper.
Two caretakers greeted him with polite warmth, handing him a keycard and a remote for the perimeter drone system. They didn't ask questions. They were paid not to.
He entered the house alone.
Inside, he was immediately greeted by the soft chime of the system overlay.
SYSTEM: Recommend Initial U.S. Asset Deployment
Suggested Primary Target: Educational Infrastructure
Develop and pilot AI-assisted adaptive learning module.
Front as a philanthropic educational reform initiative.
Potential for Tier III SP Yield (Global Adoption Viability)**
Leon paused.
Education wasn't glamorous. But it was root-deep.
He opened a blank document and titled it: Athena Protocol.
If he could reshape how knowledge was delivered—algorithmically tuned to cognition, emotion, environment—he could hijack the future of thought itself. Not indoctrination. Optimization.
SYSTEM: Athena Protocol Logged. Feasibility Score: 92%. Estimated Launch Cost: 180,000 SP.
A steep cost. But the yield could dwarf everything he'd done so far.
He opened his SP ledger.
Available SP: 150,408
Close.
If Tactica kept growing, he'd be there within a week. Maybe sooner if the multiplier threshold advanced.
Outside, the sun was setting.
Inside, Leon was already three phases ahead.
America wouldn't see him coming.