A grin spread across Leo’s face as he admired the cleverness of those devices. But he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that came with it; the last time he heard about tech like this, it had been banned. The government had shut down that project before it even launched, and the only person known for creating such devices was William Arthur, who had completely wiped out all evidence of how to make them.

While Leo was lost in thought, the tunnel door suddenly opened with a creak, and Zayden walked in. He tiptoed over, scratching his head like he had something to say but just couldn’t find the words.

Noticing that Zayden was quiet, Leo broke the silence. "If you came here to apologize, don’t worry about it. Friends go through ups and downs, right? So, I’m good," he said with a playful wink.

Zayden frowned at him and said, "Who said I came to apologize? Me? Are you kidding? Huh?" His tone made it clear he wasn’t interested in making peace.

Leo raised his hand as if to say, "Who can argue with you?" He grinned and replied, "Alright, if that’s your story, I’ll roll with it. Let’s just forget it."

Then Zayden spotted the holographic screen connected to the antenna wire nearby. Curiosity sparked, he inquired, "So, did you find something?"

"Yeah, I find something, and that something is pretty big," Leo said, his excitement evident.

"Don’t keep me hanging! What did you find? How did they pull it off?" Zayden pressed on, clearly eager for details.

Amused by Zayden’s eagerness, Leo laughed. "So, those two intruders were both carrying these," he said, pointing at the two portable jammers sitting on the table. "They first used a drone to check out where the CCTV cameras were. Once they were ready to get into the cabin, they jammed the cameras with these gadgets." He held up the antenna device, its surface shining faintly in the low light.

Zayden’s interest piqued. "How does it work?"

"Let’s go outside, and I’ll show you," Leo suggested, eager to demonstrate.

They stepped out of the tunnel, glancing around to make sure no one was around, and made their way to the cabin. When they reached the door, Leo handed Zayden one of the portable jammers while keeping the other in his left hand.

"They controlled both jammers with this," Leo explained, pointing to the antenna device in his right hand. He then pressed a button, causing the wire to retract into a tidy cable. Zayden’s eyes widened in surprise. Clicking the button again, the wire transformed back into an antenna, and a holographic screen popped up, showing bright red and green buttons labeled ’Start’ and ’Stop.’

Leo pressed the start button, and both jammers beeped, lighting up in a cool blue. The holographic screen flashed a message: "Which camera do you want to jam?"

Looking at Zayden, Leo said, "This is how it works. When those guys got close to the cabin, they activated the jammers. The moment they stepped inside, the camera feed froze, which is why it still looks stuck now. I can unfreeze it from here." He tapped a few buttons on the holographic screen, and the frozen camera feeds outside the cabin suddenly came back to life, showing real-time footage again.

With a sly grin, Leo wrapped up, saying, "Those two were obviously in a panic after getting shot and must have left these gadgets behind in their hurry."

Zayden was taken aback and asked, "You said you’ve never seen these gadgets in your whole career, right? So, who made these? Are they newly invented?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Leo smirked and replied, "Not really, Z. This stuff is pretty old. Remember the Phantom Plus project from about five or six years ago? The government banned it because it involved some weird stuff."

Zayden thought for a second and said, "Yeah, I remember. They said it could be dangerous for the public. But that was William’s project, and he destroyed everything to make sure no one could pick it back up."

Leo nodded, smiling. "Exactly, Z. This was the project that got shut down, and you’re right, it was William Arthur’s project.. But think about it, after he wiped everything out, he just disappeared. No one’s seen or heard from him since, and nobody knows where he went."

Zayden frowned, puzzled. "But William wasn’t the kind of guy to go after revenge or anything. If this relates to him, what does it mean for Zeynep? What’s her connection to all this?"

Leo’s demeanor turned serious. "I need to head to Manhattan and start digging into this. But remember, Z, keep a close watch on Zeynep. Please don’t ask her anything until I come. If she’s a target for William, we could easily lose her if she senses trouble and decides to run."

Zayden nodded, processing the information. "Yeah, that makes sense. But one thing’s bothering me: if those guys were William’s operatives, how did they get taken out so easily by one girl with no gun? It’s like she must have snatched their weapon. From what I know, William had ex-military guys working for him. How could trained operatives lose to a girl?"

Leo sighed, clearly frustrated. "Yeah, it’s a mystery to me too."

Zayden leaned in, looking frustrated. "Can’t we pull up the jammed footage? All the cameras went down during that mess in the kitchen. There’s got to be a way to figure out what really went down."

Leo shook his head, looking defeated. "Not a chance. That tech was designed for missions, specifically set up to jam the footage securely, and couldn’t be recovered. That’s why the government decided against using it. So, there’s nothing I can do to get it back."

He thought for a second and said, "Well, there was one person who could’ve helped, but he’s gone."

Zayden frowned. "You mean Lunel?"

"Yep," Leo replied, his tone heavy.

Zayden couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. "I don’t know why, but I feel like he didn’t really die, maybe he’s alive and just hiding out."

Leo didn’t seem convinced. "I get that vibe too, but we can’t ignore what happened a couple of months ago. He’s definitely dead."