Machine Control, a personal skill originating from the Mechanized Draconic God. It was an ability capable of controlling technology with a mere thought, dangerous and destructive in the wrong hands.

When Damien closed his eyelids, he tapped into every data node throughout the city of Los Angeles, targeting public and private data centers. It wasn't a quiet infiltration, but a siege.

Somewhere on the West Coast, alarms blared as a federal facility was being breached by an unknown party. Soldiers marched towards the gates while personnel uncovered the suspect.

Behind computers, IT specialists and security experts were scouring their databases for any changes or stolen files. The search didn't take long as a specialist halted.

He looked at the others, his face dumbfounded. "The bastard copied everything from the lowest to the highest level of confidentiality."

"Even fracturing or decentralizing our datacenters isn't enough since the suspect targeted everyone at the same time. Federal confidential information is being unravelled."

"And we don't know why..."

Their supervisor frowned and inquired. "Can you trace their location?"

Even if confidential information was stolen, the suspect must be caught by the federal authorities before any more intelligence could be leaked to the general public.

The specialist shook their head, and the others followed suit. The supervisor gritted his teeth, understanding why tracing was an impossibility.

After all, the origin of the connection was within their data centers. Their network was practically the suspect of the cyber attack.

"Damn it!" He cursed out loud as the director of the federal facility entered the room, glancing at them with indifference. His mouth opened. "Report."

The supervisor stepped forward and reported the situation. "Sir, complete data breach. No traces of the suspect could be found. The origin of the party is our facility itself."

"A spy?" The director tilted his head while the supervisor shook their head. "It isn't an injection of a program into our mainframes. Our actual network is the suspect of the data breach."

"The stolen intelligence must have headed somewhere, right?" He questioned, earning the nod of the supervisor. "Yes, we thought of the same thing."

"Unfortunately, the copy of our entire database practically disappeared within our network. As if it got deleted."

"But it didn't..." The director mumbled while the supervisor nodded again. They weren't stupid enough to think that the stolen data merely got purged from their database.

Silence pervaded the room until the director spoke again. "I have news from the SIGIL Fourth Division and the cooperation from CORE."

"They were also breached and had their data stolen from them. It seems that this was a widespread attack, not targeting only the Federation."

"The Clan?" A security expert remarked, but the director shook his head. "We don't know... But there is one thing we are sure about."

"The cyber attack didn't reach the Central States and the East Coast. It is local within the West Coast, which means that whoever did this probably currently resides nearby."

The director turned towards the door and was about to leave, but halted midway. "A joint operation between the Federation, Block 4, and CORE Specialists will be established."

"The target of the operation will be to arrest the suspect of the widespread cyberattack. Our military has come to an agreement, assisting us in handling the adversary."

"After all, who knows... They might be capable of much more. The widespread cyberattack might be nothing but a facet of their capabilities."

After he left the room, the specialists and experts glanced at one another. What they wanted to inquire was whether the Shadow Division could be included amongst the suspects.

Those within the Federation weren't ignorant of the occurrences surrounding the Shadow Division. It worsens with the strongest of humanity destroying the SIGIL Headquarters.

Rumors have it that the SIGIL was infiltrated by the Shadow Division. In a fit of anger, the strongest of humanity personally executed them.

"Go back to work... Prepare for the joint operation." The supervisor commanded after turning his attention towards the specialists and experts.

On the other hand, the director walked through the halls of the federal facility where panels of glass stood on the other side. The ray of warmth pierced from the outside, gleaming through the halls.

Entrenched on the front lawn was the name of the federal facility; it was none other than the Federal Intelligence Agency.

The supposed successor of the Old World Intelligence Organization... Central Intelligence Agency.

Remnants of the former organization were transferred to the West Coast after the revolution in Washington, resulting in its devastation.

It wasn't merely an intelligence organization, but a military department of its own. For this reason, the FIA held their own companies of soldiers.

As he walked through the hall, he reached the reception hall of the federal facility. He glanced at the roaming soldiers and sighed to himself.

Long before Heaven's Fall, he was but the secretary of the Central Intelligence Agency. However, when the remnants of the Old World were destroyed.

He was left behind to pick up the scraps.

The Federal Intelligence Agency wasn't even the best there was within the New World, as a rival organization stood across from them. The Intelligence Division of SIGIL.

An intelligence organization governed by a Paragon and armed with Jaegers capable of easily gathering information throughout the New World.

Even if the FIA and CORE Intelligence were combined, he doubted they could be compared to the Intelligence Division. It was merely a difference in quality.

A soldier stepped forward and saluted him. "Sir, the security perimeter has been checked. No breaches have been discovered."

Helicopters rumbled in the distance, circling the federal facility and searching for the suspect who some thought had infiltrated the facility.

Now that he had heard about the specialists and experts handling the data security. Their suspect wasn't an infiltrator, but a metahuman. Brands were the greatest weapons of humanity.

But it was also a liability, especially when granted to the wrong people.

"Affirmative, thank you for your work, Colonel." The director nodded and continued on his way. The joint operation has been approved by those above him.

It was somewhat fast, unlike the usual slow bureaucratic process. Although peculiar, the director didn't care, as it was what the FIA needed.

Meanwhile...

In the suburbs of Los Angeles, Damien opened his eyelids and unveiled his sable-tinted gaze. Data flooded his mind as he categorized and divided them into parts.

The information he had gained from the widespread cyberattack was astounding, especially the confidential files he had stolen from Block 4, the Federation, and CORE.

Secrets hidden beneath the New World, from experimentations to research in dangerous weapons alongside scandals of individuals high up in society's food chain.

If he revealed all of these secrets, the West Coast would fall into chaos. The Federation would lose its authority, and the Western states would fracture into tiny pieces.

It was for this reason that he considered Machine Control dangerous.

After all, humanity relied too much on the comfort and assurance of technology. In a world that didn't make sense, it was humankind's tools they trusted the most.

At any rate, behind the secrets of the New World was an encrypted conversation between unknown individuals related to the Shadow Division.

"Please give me a paper," Damien calmly uttered as Hecate smiled and took a paper from the cabinet. She placed it on the table alongside a pen.

He transcribed the encrypted conversation into the surface of the paper, writing every detail that he could uncover. It didn't take long before he dropped the pen and glanced at his partner and juniors.

"These are the encryptions I discovered that might be related to the infiltrators."

Echidna and Hecate gazed upon the paper, scrutinizing it with intrigue. They read the encrypted conversation and discovered that the unknown individuals were discussing the north.

It seemed that they had lost contact and were astounded to hear that the strongest of humanity had managed to get a whiff of their traces.

One assured them that all signs and clues were already expunged. As long as they stopped contacting the Shadow Division, no matter what Block 7 did, they wouldn't be discovered.

"At the very least, we have proof of their existence. There are infiltrators in the Federation, and some could be residing on the West Coast."

Echidna muttered and glanced at Damien. "Can you trace where these encrypted messages come from? There should be an origin, right?"

Neither of the two questioned Damien about how he got the encrypted messages of the infiltrators. After all, he was an Aberrant. If Brands were strange, Aberrants were stranger.

"I already did, but it led nowhere. The infiltrators are careful when contacting their allies. Besides this encrypted message, nothing pointed towards them."

Damien narrowed his gaze as no matter how much he searched the intelligence he had stolen. No signs from the infiltrators could be found, besides the messages.

Hecate smiled at the two and walked forward. "We already got a lead pointing us to the West Coast. Besides, Damien..."

"When scouring for the information, you must have learned a lot of secrets hidden beneath the New World, right? Pieces of confidential information that are much more interesting than the infiltrators."

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