The bonsai tree sat quietly inside its reinforced glass containment—no longer a decorative plant, but now an active part of an internal investigation that even Zach himself couldn't quite explain.
It looked harmless, even aesthetically pleasing, trimmed to perfection and set on a pedestal like a prized heirloom. Yet below that artful deception was the knowledge that this very tree—this bonsai—had once been the eyes and ears of Shen inside Zach's personal estate.
Zach stood in front of it, unblinking.
He was not in his manor, nor at the palace, nor even at AVA Inc. This was Horizon Arc Technologies, his personally-owned tech enterprise located on the outer rim of the Central District—a sprawling black steel building with frosted one-way windows, biometric security, and a lab so advanced, it could've belonged in a classified division of the royal military.
