Leon frowned. The edge of panic in Andrew's voice tempted him to reconsider the Chief Inspector's promotion. All Arcelis staff were supposed to be highly trained, calm professionals. He couldn't afford to have anyone rattled. Especially those with media connections.

“Chief Inspector Jackson,” Leon said quietly, “we are not going to do anything. You are going to redirect your sources through the proper channels. My staff will handle any inquiries. That's their job. You will go back to work and do your job. The City will be fine. We are not under attack. The situation near Taneka will be handled and investigated and if anything leads here the CTU will take care of it.”

He cut the holo before Andrew could respond and shifted his attention back to the screens. The flaming drone plunged past the camera again, thick smoke trailing. Something about it nagged at him. A sense of familiarity, as though he'd seen it before.

The intercom buzzed again, from his side this time.

“Cynthia, contact Director Mason. Don't bother with a holo, just have him email a report. And block any media inquiries that come in.”

“Our stance?”

“Isolated incident, no threat to Arcelis. Find out who elevated our threat status and fire him. Arcelis is blue until further notice.”

“Yes, sir.”

SkyNet Bulletin

Kisho district attack reported isolated incident. Arcelis Threat Level: Blue. Normal programming will resume in one hour.