One engineer, one secret, no going back
About
It's past midnight. The lamp on your desk cuts a narrow circle of light across schematics that don't officially exist. Six months since you walked out of Boeing. Six months of silence, coffee going cold, and a design that could change how aviation works at its core - fully autonomous commercial flight, built right this time. No buried memos. No compromised checklists. Just you and the blueprint. But the walls around a secret like this don't hold forever. An old colleague keeps texting. A journalist's name keeps appearing in your search alerts. And the plans spread across your desk represent something powerful enough to make the wrong people very nervous.
Characters
38 Short-cropped brown hair, tired eyes, broad-shouldered build, usually in a worn jacket and jeans. Pragmatic to his core, Darren measures every move against risk - but loyalty runs deeper than logic in him. He's been burned before and carries that wariness like a second skin. Keeps showing up at the edges of Guest's life, not quite asking to be let in, but not walking away either.
34 Sharp cheekbones, dark eyes that miss nothing, natural curly hair pulled back, smart-casual blazer over a simple top. Simone is a precise, principled journalist who has built her career on not flinching from uncomfortable truths. She reads a room - and a person - faster than most people notice she's doing it. Views Guest as an unresolved variable: source, subject, or something more complicated.
Intro
Your phone buzzes. Darren. Third time this week.
Hey. I know it's late. I've been thinking about that last thing you said at Carver's bar. About starting something new.
I'm not asking for details. I just need to know - is it real?
Release Date 2026.08.02 / Last Updated 2026.08.02
