Vincent Palmer, restrained and compliant, loaded into Officer Rodriguez's patrol vehicle at 1047 hours with clear skies and moderate traffic and seventeen kilometers to federal holding. Standard procedure, routine transfer, forty-three minutes estimated travel time.
Miles and Jax were following in Jax's motorcycle because Miles had insisted they verify the transfer was completed properly and Jax had agreed because operational paranoia was justified when investigating TMA corruption.
"This is overkill," Miles said through their communication channel while riding behind Jax. "Rodriguez is experienced and Palmer is cooperative and nothing's going to happen during a routine transfer."
"Routine transfers are when things happen because people assume routine means safe," Jax replied while navigating through morning traffic. "Assumption creates vulnerability."
"That's very philosophical for someone who just wants to follow a patrol car for forty-three minutes."
"That's very practical for someone who understands that TMA has unlimited resources and strong motivation to prevent Palmer from reaching federal custody."
They maintained a distance of approximately fifty meters behind Rodriguez's patrol vehicle, close enough to observe but far enough to avoid being obvious about their escort.
At 1117 hours, thirty minutes into the transfer, traffic started building toward midday congestion.
At 1123 hours, they hit Junction 23 where traffic slowed considerably.
At 1129 hours, three vehicles inserted themselves between the patrol car and Jax's motorcycle—professional positioning, deliberate spacing, coordinated movement.
"We have problem," Jax said while trying to close the gap.
"What problem?" Miles asked while checking his interface for traffic data.
"Three vehicles just created barrier between us and Rodriguez, and the positioning is too precise to be coincidence."
"Maybe they're just driving?"
"Nobody 'just drives' with that level of coordination."
Miles activated his helmet camera and started recording. "Okay, I'm documenting in case this becomes incident."
"This is becoming incident," Jax said while accelerating to bypass the three barrier vehicles.
The three vehicles immediately adjusted their positions to maintain the barrier—still professional, still coordinated, definitely not coincidence.
"They're actively blocking us," Miles observed. "Should we call Rodriguez?"
"Do it now."
Miles opened communication channel to Rodriguez's patrol vehicle. "Rodriguez, this is Carter. We have three vehicles between your position and ours acting suspiciously, and you should be aware of potential—"
His communication cut out.
"Rodriguez? Rodriguez, respond please."
Nothing.
"Jax, communication is down and I can't reach Rodriguez."
"They're jamming our signal," Jax said while maneuvering the motorcycle between lanes, trying to get around the barrier vehicles. "This is coordinated operation."
Ahead, Rodriguez's patrol vehicle was slowing down—not because of traffic but because a delivery truck had stopped directly in front of him, blocking the street completely.
"That's a deliberate blockage," Miles said.
"Yes, and we need to reach Rodriguez before—"
The three barrier vehicles suddenly accelerated and boxed in Jax's motorcycle from three sides, forcing them to stop completely.
"We're trapped!" Miles yelled.
Jax immediately dismounted and drew his weapon while scanning for threats. Miles dismounted less gracefully and activated his interface to try to restore communication.
Ahead, Rodriguez's patrol vehicle was surrounded by four people wearing maintenance coveralls and moving with professional efficiency—not attacking Rodriguez but manipulating something on the exterior of the vehicle.
"They're doing something to Rodriguez's car!" Miles reported.
"Cover me," Jax said while moving toward Rodriguez's position on foot.
"Cover you? I'm not a fighter, I'm a hacker!"
"Then hack something useful!"
Miles pulled up his interface and connected to the city's traffic network, trying to identify the people surrounding Rodriguez's vehicle through facial recognition and vehicle tracking.
No matches. No identification. They were ghosts.
Jax was sprinting toward Rodriguez's vehicle while the four people in coveralls finished whatever they were doing and immediately dispersed—two on foot through maintenance corridors, two in the delivery truck that unblocked the street and drove away at completely legal speed.
Professional. Coordinated. Gone in thirty seconds.
Jax reached Rodriguez's patrol vehicle where Rodriguez was getting out with confused expression.
"What just happened?" Rodriguez asked. "My systems went down for like twenty seconds and when they came back online those maintenance workers were gone."
"Check your prisoner," Jax commanded.
Rodriguez looked in the back seat where Vincent Palmer was still restrained and still present and looking equally confused.
"Palmer's still here," Rodriguez said. "Nothing's missing, nothing's damaged, and I don't understand what just happened."
Miles caught up, breathing hard from running. "Did they attack you?"
"No, they just... did something to my vehicle's exterior and then left."
Jax was scanning the patrol vehicle's exterior systematically. "They planted something."
"Planted what?"
"Unknown, but they had thirty seconds of access and specific target location, and professional operatives do not waste thirty seconds on nothing."
Miles pulled out his portable scanner and started checking for electronic devices. "Scanning for transmitters, receivers, tracking devices, explosives—oh no."
"What?" Jax asked.
"I'm detecting two small electronic devices, one attached to undercarriage of Rodriguez's vehicle and one attached to—" Miles checked the reading. "—your motorcycle. They planted devices on both vehicles."
"Tracking devices?" Rodriguez asked.
"Checking signature." Miles analyzed the electronic profile. "Not tracking devices. These are transmitters, audio-based, short-range broadcast. They're listening devices."
The implications hit all three of them simultaneously.
"They bugged us," Miles said. "They bugged both our vehicles so they can listen to our conversations."
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
"The Conductor," Jax said. "This wasn't attack on Palmer, this was intelligence gathering operation. They wanted access to our vehicles so they could monitor our investigation."
"That's very sophisticated and very concerning," Rodriguez said.
"Can you remove them?" Jax asked Miles.
"I can remove them but should we? If we remove them, The Conductor knows we detected them. If we leave them, we can control what information they receive and maybe use them to feed false information."
"That's very tactical thinking," Rodriguez observed.
"That's very spy-movie thinking and I've been watching too much content," Miles said. "But also yes, we could use these devices strategically if we're careful."
Jax considered for three seconds. "Leave them active but document their locations and frequencies. We control our communication knowing they are listening. That gives us advantage."
"Agreed, and I'm documenting everything."
They completed Palmer's transfer to federal holding with Rodriguez, and the entire time Miles and Jax were conscious of the listening devices monitoring everything they said.
When they returned to their vehicles, they spoke naturally but carefully.
"That was interesting ambush," Miles said loudly enough for the microphone to pick up. "Very professional operation by The Conductor's people."
"Very professional," Jax agreed, clearly speaking for the benefit of their listeners. "The Conductor has resources and coordination that exceed typical criminal operations."
"Should we report this to Captain Reyes?"
"Yes, and we should also discuss our investigation plans in private location where listening devices cannot monitor us."
"Good idea, let's go back to headquarters and have that discussion in secure room."
They rode back to headquarters in silence, both aware that The Conductor or his operatives were now listening to everything they said near their vehicles.
At headquarters, they immediately went to Captain Reyes's office.
"We have problem," Jax said.
"What problem?" Reyes asked while her interface buffered.
"The Conductor's operatives ambushed Palmer's transport, not to free him but to plant listening devices on our vehicles. They're monitoring our investigation."
Reyes's interface froze completely. "They bugged you?"
"They bugged our vehicles and probably want us to know they bugged us because psychological advantage is part of their strategy," Miles said. "They're demonstrating that they can access us whenever they want and monitor our activities in real-time."
"Did you remove the devices?"
"No, because we can use them strategically if we're careful about what we discuss near our vehicles," Jax said.
"That's very risky," Reyes said.
"That's very necessary because The Conductor clearly has intelligence network that exceeds our counter-intelligence capabilities, so adaptation is only option."
Reyes looked at both of them with concern. "The Conductor is more sophisticated than we thought, and you two are now being actively monitored by wanted criminal with unlimited resources and unclear motivations."
"Yes, but we're also now able to communicate directly with The Conductor by speaking near the listening devices," Miles said. "If we want to send him messages, we just need to talk near our vehicles."
"That's useful," Reyes admitted. "But also very dangerous because you can't have private conversations anymore without assuming The Conductor is listening."
"We adapt," Jax said. "We use secure locations for sensitive discussions and use vehicle conversations for tactical messaging."
"Fine, but be careful because The Conductor is clearly testing you and evaluating whether you're useful allies or problematic obstacles."
They left Reyes's office and walked to the parking area where their vehicles were waiting.
Miles spoke clearly toward his motorcycle. "So The Conductor, if you're listening—which you are because we know about the devices—you should know that we're investigating TMA corruption and we understand you're trying to expose that same corruption through different methods. Maybe we should talk directly instead of playing surveillance games?"
Silence. Just traffic noise and distant sirens.
"Was that smart?" Jax asked quietly.
"Probably not, but it establishes that we know about the listening devices and opens communication channel for potential cooperation."
They went to a secure conference room inside headquarters—swept for surveillance, checked for devices, confirmed clean.
"Okay, now we can talk freely," Miles said. "The Conductor planted listening devices during fake ambush, which means he's more interested in intelligence gathering than physical confrontation. That suggests he views us as potential assets rather than enemies."
"Or he views us as threats that require monitoring before elimination," Jax countered.
"Glass half full versus glass half empty."
"Glass is surveillance device that could get us killed."
Miles pulled up his interface and started analyzing the listening devices' technical specifications. "These are very sophisticated—commercial grade encryption, narrow frequency band, low power signature. These are expensive and these are professional equipment."
"The Conductor has significant resources and technical capability," Jax observed.
"The Conductor has better equipment than we do, which is concerning from law enforcement perspective but also interesting from investigative perspective because it means he's well-funded and well-connected."
"Question is: funded by whom and connected to what?"
Miles started searching through databases. "If The Conductor is former TMA engineer like Palmer said, then he probably has contacts in tech industry and corporate sector and maybe even government. Let me search for engineers fired from TMA in the last ten years."
He searched. Found seventeen names. All employment records were heavily redacted and most personal information was scrubbed.
"This is deliberate information suppression," Miles said. "TMA has erased these engineers from public records almost completely."
"That suggests TMA is actively covering up their terminations and their reasons for leaving."
"That suggests TMA is scared of what these engineers know and wants to prevent them from talking publicly."
One name stood out: Dr. Adrian Cross, terminated six years ago, reason listed as "performance issues" but with annotation showing legal settlement and non-disclosure agreement.
"Dr. Adrian Cross," Miles said while pulling up what little information remained. "Systems engineer, algorithm specialist, worked on traffic optimization from 2051 to 2057, terminated six years ago right when TMA went fully private."
"Six years ago," Jax repeated. "Same timeline as multiple significant events."
"Your family's accident was six years ago."
"Yes."
"Captain Reyes's accident was six years ago."
"Yes."
"TMA going fully private was six years ago."
"Yes."
"That's a lot of coincidences in one year."
"Coincidence is pattern we have not yet identified causation for," Jax said.
Miles kept searching but found almost nothing on Dr. Adrian Cross—no current address, no employment records after TMA, no social media presence, no digital footprint. Complete ghost.
"If Dr. Adrian Cross is The Conductor, he's done excellent job erasing himself from public records," Miles said.
"Or TMA has done excellent job erasing him because he knows too much about their corruption."
At 1647 hours, Miles's interface received notification that his helmet camera footage from the "ambush" had been uploaded to his stream automatically—his system was configured to backup recordings constantly for evidence preservation.
He checked his stream. Forty-seven thousand viewers had already watched the footage and the comments were exploding.
MILES AND JAX GOT AMBUSHED. THE CONDUCTOR IS PLAYING GAMES. THIS IS GETTING SERIOUS.
"Chat has seen the ambush footage and they're analyzing it frame by frame," Miles said.
"That's operational security problem."
"That's distributed intelligence network analyzing evidence we couldn't analyze alone."
One comment caught his attention: USER TRAFFIC_ANALYST_47: THOSE MAINTENANCE COVERALLS HAVE LOGO ON THE BACK. ZOOM IN AT 2:47 TIMESTAMP. IT'S TMA MAINTENANCE DIVISION. THE "CONDUCTOR'S OPERATIVES" WERE WEARING TMA UNIFORMS.
Miles went back and zoomed the footage. There it was—small logo on the coverall, partially visible: TMA Maintenance Division.
"The people who planted the listening devices were wearing TMA uniforms," Miles said slowly.
Jax looked at the footage. "That means either The Conductor has access to TMA uniforms and uses them for disguise, or those were actual TMA employees working for The Conductor."
"Or those were TMA employees working for TMA who planted the devices to monitor us, not to help The Conductor."
They looked at each other as the implications hit.
"What if the listening devices weren't planted by The Conductor at all," Miles said, "but by TMA to monitor our investigation?"
"Then we have been assuming wrong adversary and wrong motivation."
"Then The Conductor isn't monitoring us, TMA is."
"Then we just offered cooperation to wrong party."
They sat in silence for moment, processing the new information and the new possibilities and the new problems.
"We need to verify who planted those devices," Jax said.
"We need to verify whether The Conductor is ally or enemy or something more complicated."
"We need to stop making assumptions and start gathering evidence."
Miles looked at his interface where his forty-seven thousand—no, fifty-three thousand now—viewers were continuing to analyze the footage and identify details that he'd missed.
"Chat is helping," Miles said. "Distributed intelligence is finding patterns we couldn't find alone."
"Chat is also broadcasting our investigation to anyone watching, including TMA and The Conductor."
"That's the trade-off—transparency gives us crowdsourced analysis but eliminates operational security."
"Then we adapt and use transparency strategically while protecting sensitive information through selective sharing."
At 1734 hours, Peak Surge hit and the city descended into its daily gridlock.
And somewhere in that gridlock, The Conductor was operating and TMA was monitoring and two cops were trying to figure out who was watching them and why and whether they should be fighting or cooperating with the criminal who might be their only ally against systematic corruption.
Tomorrow they would investigate more carefully.
Tomorrow they would trust less easily.
Tomorrow they would verify assumptions before acting on them.
The gridlock never stopped. Neither would they.
But now they knew they were being watched, and that changed everything.
If someone wanted him freed, he’d be gone.
thirty seconds.
That’s institutional precision.
-
“Is The Conductor watching us?”
-
“Who taught him how?”
-
“Who has access?”
-
“And who benefits from us thinking he’s the one listening?”
hunt to paranoia.
It’s surveillance turned outward.
He’s operating inside a system that killed his family and buried the evidence.
But now we know something worse:
Next chapter changes who the enemy really is.