Related Cases (5)
Related Novels (3)
Related Chapters (7)
The Algorithm Beneath the Skin
Words: 3052 · Source Novel:: The Pre-Crime Verdict
The Verdan authorities are paralyzed, and the Phantom Jury releases fragments of a predictive AI called “Oracle’s Lens,” which supposedly scans public and stolen private data to calculate everyone’s propensity for crime. Livia discovers that her deceased father, a neurologist, had worked on the original profiling model. Citizens begin turning on one another, reporting suspicious behavioral patterns in neighbors and family members. Casey, now under protective custody, reaches out to Livia with a horrifying clue: the algorithm doesn’t just predict crime—it actively seeds paranoia to provoke “pre-criminal” behavior as a form of entrapment.
The Default of Safety
Words: 2947 · Source Novel:: The Pre-Crime Verdict
In the Verdan Federation, on the day civil plaintiff Elena Crow is expected to win her privacy suit against data leaker Marcus Casey, a live broadcast shows her being shot by a drone marked with the sigil of the “Phantom Jury.” The execution is streamed across every public screen. Junior attorney Livia Voss, who had been reviewing the case files in her quiet apartment, watches her routine world crumble. The Jury’s manifesto declares that anyone above a “latent threat threshold” will be eliminated, using the very psychological profile that Casey leaked to justify the killing. Daily conversations suddenly feel lethal, and the illusion of safety in one’s own home vanishes overnight.
Bruises That Don't Bleed
Words: 3018 · Source Novel:: Prey's Dark Heart
Keegan’s covert handler, Frank, pushes him to wear a wire and set a trap. But Keegan hesitates, now emotionally entangled. Adrian takes “Casey” to a secluded cabin, revealing he knows Keegan was once a cop. Instead of executing him, Adrian confesses the truth: he is the brother of a victim from the Logan v. Hughes incident, and his targets were never random—they were the witnesses who lied to protect the officer. The real killer was the justice system. Adrian’s confession isn’t a threat but a love letter written in vengeance. Keegan’s moral compass shatters; Adrian’s mission mirrors the justice Keegan himself once craved. They share a night where the lines between captor and lover dissolve completely, sealing a pact Keegan knows he must ultimately break.
The Mirror Game
Words: 3012 · Source Novel:: Prey's Dark Heart
Going by the name Adrian, the charming but enigmatic stranger becomes Keegan’s constant shadow. Instead of attacking, Adrian offers protection from the city’s violent underbelly, sharing meals and confessing a disdain for “bad cops.” Keegan, posing as Casey, realizes Adrian is testing him, probing for his past. The intimacy of deception becomes a cage; Keegan finds himself revealing real fragments of his own broken life to maintain the lie. A tense moment occurs when a local patrolman harasses them, and Keegan must suppress his law-enforcement instincts to let Adrian diffuse the situation. That night, Keegan discovers Adrian’s sketchbook filled not with victims, but with identical portraits of Casey’s face, shadowed by a tenderness that terrifies him more than any weapon.
Casey v. State of Oldenia
Words: 3247 · Source Novel:: The Pre-Crime Purge
In hiding, Ellis and Mara file a federal lawsuit arguing that the state's complicity in pre-crime executions violates constitutional rights. The trial becomes a lightning rod, broadcast live as protests and vigilante justice erupt. During a recess, an assassin disguised as a bailiff nearly kills Ellis. The state's defense claims the murders are the work of unaffiliated extremists, exploiting society's fractures and leaving the courtroom as the only fragile shield.