Kieran Voss's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Kieran Voss stepped into the alley behind the dead factories, briefcase in hand. He had spent months mapping ways to take this land back for the workers it once fed. Tonight, a stranger had promised him the missing piece. The man waited in a worn armchair dragged out beside a rusted door. Empty cans ringed his boots. A blanket, a cold kettle, weeks of patience pressed into the cushion. He had been sitting with this secret a long time. He pointed to a tall shard of colored glass propped against the wall, lit from inside. Pages were taped along its surface — deeds, signatures, a forged seal glowing through the panels. Proof the seizure was illegal. Then he pointed to an old computer set on a plank desk nearby. "You get me inside the corporate network with that," he said. "My brother died for what they buried. I want their files. All of them." Kieran looked at the glowing pages, then at the bulky monitor humming faintly. A legal angle, handed to him. An illegal demand, chained to it. He set his briefcase down and nodded once. The man peeled the pages free. Kieran took them, and took the computer too.