Chapter 208: Aftershock

Washington D.C. — West Wing, White HouseTime: 04:12 a.m. EST

The White House Situation Room was never meant to feel small, but at that hour, under the glare of dozens of live feeds, it did.

The President wasn’t there yet — only the National Security Advisor and a few senior aides.

"Report," the Advisor said sharply.

"We’re getting intermittent visuals. Targets are inbound from low altitude, metallic looking, with no visible propulsion. They appear to be... delivering something," The NSA Director’s voice came through the speaker.

"Delivering?"

"Yes, sir. It seems that they are delivering Lucid, as each of the inbound target are flying towards the direction of the identified streamers who announced Lucid testing."

"So it’s coordinated," the Advisor muttered.

"Yes, sir."

***

On one of the wall screens, the Los Angeles streamer’s camera feed filled the frame.

Rain slicked the pavement outside his door. The drone hovered less than two meters above the ground.

The entire Situation Room watched as the curved arc where the word LUCID was etched began to slide open inwardly, splitting along a seamless line that glowed faint blue, revealing the compartment within, and inside was the familiar packaging of Lucid.

Then, just as gently, the streamer reached forward and lifted it out.

The drone closed, paused, tilted upward and rose back into the air, disappearing into the clouds.

"Gone. They all just... left?" the NSA Director asked with a complicated look on his face

The silence afterward was thick and unsettling, as everyone was trying to make sense of what they just saw.

"Where are they going?" someone asked.

"Up. But too fast enough to track. They just fade once they reach about five miles up."

"So we can’t trace them," The Advisor asked, as he rubbed his temples

"No, sir."

"Can we intercept?"

"No, sir."

"What about satellites?"

"Negative. By the time we redirect a lens, they’re gone."

***

The President arrived twenty minutes later, hair still damp from the shower. He took one look at the playback and sat in silence.

"So, we just watched seven of the forty unknown aircraft enter our airspace, deliver private packages to civilians, and leave without clearance," he said after a long pause.

"Yes, sir," the Advisor said.

"And not one radar system in the hemisphere caught even a blip."

"Correct."

The President stared at the paused frame, watching the moment the drone hovered by the streamer’s door, light reflecting off its surface like liquid mercury.

"Was this hostile?" he asked.

"No, sir. But it wasn’t friendly either."

***

Thirty minutes later, reports from the CIA, NSA, and NORAD began to converge, but none of them had found anything concrete.

The compiled notes read:

Event: Coordinated delivery by unidentified aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Number: 40 (confirmed)

Speed: Variable, subsonic

Thermal output: Near zero

Material signature: Metallic, smooth, unknown composition

Origin: Untraceable (entered from upper atmosphere, non-satellite trajectory)

Behavior: Non-hostile

Purpose: Civilian product delivery

Manufacturer: Nova Technologies — private entity, unverified corporate structure

Risk Level: Critical (uncontrollable technology demonstration)

The last line was underlined twice by the President himself.

"So what’s our read?" the President asked after going through the reports.

"Sir, if Nova Technologies can do this, they just proved they can bypass every sovereign airspace in the world at will. It’s not a weapon, but it’s as powerful as one," The National Security Advisor spoke first.

"And they did it publicly and deliberately. This was a message," The Secretary of Defense made sure to add, with a solemn look on his face.

The DNI also added, "They wanted to be seen. They wanted to show they can operate globally without interference."

The President stared at the monitors again, the live feeds still showing streamers unboxing Lucid units in real time and tens of millions around the world watching them do that.

"What’s the official line?" the Chief of Staff asked quietly.

The President thought for a long moment before saying, "We don’t have one."

***

An internal directive was issued a few minutes later:

CLASSIFIED//EYES ONLY

From: National Security Advisor

To: NSA, CIA, DoD, FAA, NASA

Subject: NOVA EVENT

Effective immediately, all surveillance, tracking, and intelligence efforts relating to Nova Technologies are elevated to Tier One Priority.

Objectives:

1. Identify corporate origin and leadership.

2. Determine technological base (propulsion, materials, manufacturing).

3. Establish potential national or extraterrestrial link.

4. Maintain public neutrality until further notice.

***

Washington D.C. — 6:38 a.m.

The sun hadn’t even cleared the skyline when the Situation Room lights came back on. Nobody had left or slept.

Coffee cups lined the tables, half-empty, long cold. The room smelled like exhaustion and concealed fear.

A muted television in the corner played endless replays of the Lucid drone deliveries from around the world.

Every network — CNN, BBC, NHK, Al Jazeera, Fox — ran the same headline in different languages:

"Nova Technologies Stuns the World."

"Drones from the Sky: No Nation Claims Responsibility."

"What Did We Just Witness?"

The President entered with the Chief of Staff and the National Security Advisor right behind him.

He didn’t speak immediately. He just stood for a moment, watching one of the drones rise into the clouds on screen, vanishing quietly from the feed.

A few moments later, the Director of National Intelligence began first, reporting what they had been able to gather.

"Sir, the overnight task force combed through all global data. None of our radar systems tracked the drones before they were within a few miles of their targets. No satellite registered them entering the atmosphere. It’s as if they materialized just above the cloud layer."

The President’s tone was calm but sharp, as he asked, "Materialized? Are you saying teleportation?"

"Unlikely. More probable that they use some kind of optical cloaking or reflective field that blocks radar and thermal imaging. Whatever the case, they’re invisible until they choose not to be," the DNI replied.

The Secretary of Defense took over next.

"NORAD has already requested NASA’s telemetry archives. We’re checking if any of our deep-space sensors caught even a faint distortions before descent. So far, nothing."

The National Security Advisor added, "Every ally we’ve spoken to is saying the same thing. There was no warning or detections. Forty entry points, zero foreknowledge."

"So in one night, they demonstrated global reach and perfect stealth," The President said, as his fingers drummed lightly on the table.

"Yes, sir. And they did it publicly," said the Advisor.

***

At 7:05 a.m., a CIA team entered with new files.

Each folder bore the heading: "NOVA TECHNOLOGIES — Preliminary Assessment."

"Sir, we cross-referenced Nova Technologies against every global registry — corporate, governmental, and financial. There’s no trace. No tax filings, shipping records, patent registries, or known logistics networks," the lead analyst said with a steady voice, even with her fatigue of working throughout the night without rest.

"Nothing?" The President raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, sir. It’s as if the company exists only as a brand. No factories, no employees, except an empty headquarters."

"Then where are the Lucid devices coming from?"

"That’s what we’re trying to determine," she replied.

"Have you been able to confirm if it’s extraterrestrial?" asked the Chief of Staff.

The analyst didn’t flinch, as she replied, "That hypothesis has already been logged, but we haven’t been able to confirm because we are still yet to secure a unit."

"How’s that possible? Didn’t three US citizens receive the device the last time? Don’t tell me that they still don’t want to give it up," the Chief of Staff said.

"I’m sorry but that’s exactly what’s happening. They are refusing to give it up. They won’t accept any form of compensation no matter what it is. They said that only a few thousand units of the device will be released monthly and they won’t be able to get another one with how fast they are being sold out in pre-order. I’ve contacted our assets around the world and they said that other countries are facing the same problem we are," analyst explained.

"So, how do we secure a unit? Pre-order it?" The Chief of Staff asked.

"I’m afraid that’s the only way, sir. I greatly doubt the streamers will want to even let go of theirs."

"It can’t be helped then. We will assemble a team to monitor Nova Technologies website for when Lucid’s pre-order goes live again. We must secure one next month," the President said, and everyone in the room nodded.

***

At the Pentagon, the conversation was harsher.

"Let’s not dance around this. Whoever built those drones has just proven they can penetrate every air defense network on Earth. That’s checkmate," General Samuels said to his staff.

Another general replied, "Maybe it’s civilian logistics. Some new delivery breakthrough."

Samuels snapped, "Civilian tech doesn’t re-enter from near orbit and disappear again without a heat signature."

Someone else muttered, "We’ve lost airspace superiority, haven’t we?"

The room went quiet, but everyone knew the answer to that question.

***

The Press Secretary entered the Situation Room carrying a stack of drafts.

"We have to say something. Every journalist in the world is demanding an official statement," she said.

"Say what? That we were watching it live like everyone else?" the Chief of Staff asked.

The Press Secretary looked uncertain, as she spoke, "If we don’t say anything, we’ll look like we’re hiding something."

The President said quietly, "We are hiding something. Our ignorance."

The room stayed silent.

He continued, "We issue a neutral statement — say it’s a private corporate event under observation. There will be no comment on origin, or any speculation. Let the world argue itself tired before we weigh in."

"Buy time. Good call," The Advisor nodded.

***

At 8:12 a.m., an internal meeting convened with only four people: the President, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of Defense, and the DNI.

This was a locked door meeting, without aides or recordings.

The Defense Secretary spoke first, "They demonstrated something we can’t counter. If they can do that with delivery drones, they can deploy anything — sensors, weapons, satellites — without detection."

The Advisor said, "This isn’t aggression. It’s leverage. They’re showing capability, not intent."

"Intent can change," the Secretary replied.

The President stared at the table for a long moment, then spoke quietly, "We need a plan."

The Advisor slid a single-page document across the table.

Proposed Formation: Project SKYLINE

Mandate: Identify, infiltrate, or replicate Nova Technologies.

Agencies involved: CIA, NSA, DARPA, Space Force, Treasury.

Objective: Determine origin, technological base, and leadership.

Priority: Absolute.

The President read the page, nodded once, and signed.

"Make it invisible.If Congress asks, it’s aerospace research. Nothing more," he said.

"Yes, sir."

"Nova Technologies left a message with this display. They just told the world that borders don’t matter anymore," the President muttered to himself.

***

Later in the evening, there will be an internal memorandum circulating through every major intelligence and defense agency marked:

TOP SECRET — EYES ONLY

To: Director of National Intelligence

From: National Security Advisor

Subject: NOVA TECHNOLOGIES – Preliminary Conclusions

1. The Nova Event constitutes the first recorded instance of uncontrolled, global-scale aerial operations by a non-state entity.

2. The technology demonstrated exceeds known propulsion, radar-avoidance, and atmospheric re-entry capabilities.

3. Origin remains undetermined.

4. Risk level: existential (uncontainable technological monopoly).

5. Recommended directive: treat Nova as a de facto superstate until proven otherwise.