Just weeks after the Vault 2.0 celebration, Liora faced her first crisis.

A whistleblower within her Civic Flame Network accused a regional coordinator of funneling trauma stories without consent for marketing purposes.

The media pounced.

“Liora’s Phoenix Exploits Survivor Pain?”

“Vault 2.0: Healing or Harvesting?”

Sophie offered advice.

Liora declined.

“I need to stand alone for once.”

And she did.

She suspended the coordinator.

Launched a public audit.

And hosted a panel of survivors who rewrote the entire consent protocol for Vault 2.0 uploads.

The media retracted.

The survivors stayed.

And Sophie whispered to herself,

“She’s more than ready.”

On a quiet morning, Sophie stood on the edge of a...