The Bad News First

Lyra frowned. “What… what do you mean?”

Kira’s eyes lit with amusement. “Oh. You didn’t know?” She glanced at Leo. “You sneaky little rascal.”

Leo froze.

“He wrote his own code,” Kira continued easily. “Built his own firewall. Layered custom encryption from scratch. And honestly?” She shrugged. “With a little fine-tuning, it’s solid. Scary solid.”

She grinned at the camera. “Virtual high-five,