Dr. Conrad Fields sprinted through the hallway, his lab coat flapping as he burst into the operations room. "Yves! Yves!" he called, his voice shaking.
Yves Cartwright, head of the Bureau's Communication Division, looked up from the monitors. "What's going on, Conrad?"
"We got it," Conrad panted. "The signal we've received it."
Yves' brow furrowed before a small smile tugged at his lips. "Finally. Why do you look terrified, then?"
"The signal…" Conrad hesitated, his hands trembling. "It isn't in our hands."
Yves stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"It was intercepted," Conrad said, his voice low. "By someone else."
"And who could that possibly be?" Yves asked, his tone icy.
Conrad shrugged helplessly. "One in eight billion humans on this Earth."
Yves' jaw clenched. "Assemble the team. We're calling a conference immediately."
The conference room buzzed with tension as Yves addressed the gathered scientists and military personnel.
"We have a problem," he began. "The signal we've been working decades to receive has been intercepted by an unknown party. As of now, we don't know who or where they are."
Murmurs spread through the room. Yves raised a hand. "This cannot get out. If the public learns of this, chaos will follow. We need to act decisively."
Dr. Conrad stepped forward. "The signal is strong, powerful. Whoever has it might not even understand what they're dealing with. Or they might and that's the real danger."
Yves nodded. "Effective immediately, we are enacting Protocol Zero."
The room fell silent, stunned.
"Shut down the internet globally," Yves commanded. "No leaks. No chances. Until we identify the receiver, we control the flow of information."
Protests erupted, but Yves silenced them with a sharp glare. "This is non-negotiable. Do it."
As the room dispersed, Yves remained, staring out the window. Somewhere out there, someone had the signal. And Yves was determined to get it back at any cost.
The world stopped.
Within hours of Protocol Zero being initiated, the globe was plunged into digital silence. Social media platforms froze mid-scroll, search engines became inaccessible, and the constant hum of online chatter vanished. Confusion and fear spread as billions of people stared at blank screens, their connection to the world severed.
Inside the Bureau's command center, Yves stood in front of a massive world map, its surface marked with glowing red dots representing possible locations for the signal's interception. The tension in the room was palpable, every second feeling like an eternity.
Conrad leaned against a nearby console, scanning data pouring in from the Bureau's satellites. "We've narrowed it down to a region," he said.
Yves turned to him, his voice sharp. "Where?"
Conrad hesitated. "North America. Specifically, somewhere in the northeastern United States."
Yves' eyes narrowed. "That's still too broad. We need to pinpoint the exact location."
A young technician interrupted, her voice trembling. "Sir, we're detecting unusual electromagnetic activity near a suburban area in Pennsylvania. It matches the signal's frequency."
"Pennsylvania?" Yves repeated, his mind racing. "Get me everything on that area demographics, infrastructure, potential targets. Now."
Yves paced the room as the data poured in. "This is it," he said, pointing at the map. "Conrad, send a team to Pennsylvania. Quietly. I want boots on the ground within the hour."
Conrad nodded but hesitated. "Yves, what if we're too late? If the signal is already in their hands"
"Then we make sure they don't use it," Yves cut him off. His expression was unyielding. "No matter what."
As the Bureau mobilized, Yves couldn't shake the nagging thought at the back of his mind: whoever intercepted the signal had no idea what they were dealing with. And if they did… the consequences could be catastrophic.