The silence of Vane Tower was no longer the silence of power; it was the silence of a tomb.

By 6:00 PM, the glass-and-steel monument to Silas Vane’s ambition had been decapitated. The "Restraining Order of Assets" served by the Valerius Foundation had frozen every server, every offshore account, and every keycard access point. The hundreds of employees who had once scurried like ants to do his bidding had been ushered out by private security teams wearing the silver falcon of the Valerius Estate.