The GDS Protocol

Leo had the intel. The mission was over.

Viktor Nass arrived early. He was a thick man with a grief-shaped face. He stood outside the fence, watching Zoe draw with chalk on the driveway.

He worked for the GDS’s deep division: Ghost Data Systems . His job was to fabricate people. But this time, they needed him to become one.

All of it was fake. A construct.

“Daddy?” she called. “Can Uncle Viktor stay for dinner?”