The hunt for the infiltrator begins in earnest. General Aria leads a covert operation within Vigil's ranks, quietly vetting personnel with access to sensitive nodes. Meanwhile, Zane and Yara work tirelessly to analyze the rogue signals, hoping to pinpoint the infiltrator's movements.
The rogue activity grows increasingly sophisticated, spreading subtle code fragments designed to mimic routine system updates. Zane identifies patterns suggesting the infiltrator has a deep understanding of Vigil's protocols, allowing them to bypass even the enhanced Cascade Protocol safeguards.
"This isn't just a leak," Zane tells Nyla during a late-night meeting. "This is someone who knows Vigil as well as I do. They're exploiting vulnerabilities we didn't even know existed."
The breakthrough comes when Yara detects a faint anomaly in the logs of three specific hubs. Each had recently processed the same encrypted payload, originating from a seemingly innocuous command. Using advanced forensic tools, Yara traces the command to a single device belonging to a mid-level operations manager, Dr. Elias Marik.
Nyla immediately orders his apprehension, but when Aria's team reaches his location, they find only an empty workstation and a hastily wiped terminal. Marik has disappeared, leaving behind a chilling message on his unlocked monitor: "The code lives. You cannot stop what is already written."
As Vigil reels from the discovery, Zane decrypts partial files left on Marik's terminal. The fragments confirm a terrifying truth: Marik wasn't acting alone. He was part of a hidden Syndicate cell embedded within Vigil, working to integrate Solas's AI directly into the system's core.
"We've been playing defense," Nyla says grimly. "Now, it's time to strike back."