Chapter 46 - The Federal Interception
Before Victor could lunge for his scattered weapon, the front door of the Brooklyn brownstone splintered inward with a deafening crash.
"Federal Bureau of Investigation! Nobody move!"
Tactical gear, Kevlar vests, and assault rifles flooded the narrow parlor room in a matter of seconds. Federal marshals pinned Victor face-first against the heavy server racks, snapping steel cuffs onto his wrists with practiced efficiency.
As Victor was dragged toward the front entrance, cursing wildly into the cold night air, a familiar figure stepped past the federal agents into the room. Jonathan Sterling adjusted his coat, his expression grim as he surveyed the glowing server racks.
"The federal cybercrime division received an anonymous, fully authenticated telemetry dump twenty minutes ago," Jonathan said, looking over at Mason. "Complete transaction logs, military routing override codes, and the exact IP address of Victor’s primary command terminal."
"Emily does good work when she's annoyed," Mason replied smoothly, leaning against the edge of the desk.
Jonathan walked over, placing a hand on the edge of the terminal. "The prosecutor says this is the final nail in the coffin for the syndicate's operational wing. With Victor locked away under federal anti-terrorism statutes regarding critical infrastructure sabotage, there's no one left to fund an appeal for Julian or Arthur."
"Syndicates don't die because you lock up the bosses, Jonathan," Mason said quietly, staring at the flashing green lights of the server rack as federal agents began unhooking the hardware. "They die when the people stop letting them hide in the dark."
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"And you?" Jonathan asked, looking directly at him. "Are you going back to Astoria?"
Mason pushed himself off the desk, pulling his hood up over his head. "I've got a few Astoria kids who need help debugging their second-stage app deployment tomorrow morning. I shouldn't be late."
