Beacon

Ren paced along the sleek metal walkways of the Villain’s Lair, checking the time on her wristband for the fifth time. No word from Mira. It had been over an hour since their scheduled meeting, and the encrypted messages Ren sent hung in the ether, unread.

She sighed, glancing out at the ocean below. Maybe Mira was just running late. She was a bit eccentric, always nervous about security. Maybe she was double-checking her escape routes, Ren thought with a faint smile. That would be so like Mira—paranoid, brilliant, but sometimes overly cautious.

Still, the unease gnawed at the back of Ren’s mind.

Mira had insisted on this meeting in person, refusing to upload any of her findings to the cloud. She’d discovered something huge—an energy technology that could change the world, she’d said. But she’d been so secretive, worried someone might steal her work before she had a chance to share it on her own terms.

Ren had admired her passion, even if they thought Mira’s paranoia about corporate sabotage was a little overblown. Sure, the world was competitive, but the Villain’s Lair was a haven for disruptors. If anywhere was safe to push boundaries, it was here.

Or was it?

Ren sat on a nearby bench, pulling up the last message they’d received from Mira:

“It’s too dangerous to send anything over the net. We’ll talk in person. Tomorrow, 3 p.m. Lair promenade. Don’t be late.”

Ren hadn’t been late. But Mira? No word, no messages.

They tried to reassure themselves. Maybe something personal came up. Maybe she was being overly cautious. But there was that nagging feeling—what if it was more than that?

Later that evening, Ren sat across from Lena at a quiet café near the edge of the Lair. The atmosphere was calm, but the tension between them was palpable.

“She’s gone, Ren. This is no coincidence,” Lena said, leaning in. “Mira didn’t just forget about your meeting. She’s been disappeared.”

Ren frowned, stirring her drink. “You don’t know that. Mira was always a little… careful. She could just be laying low. Maybe she’ll reach out tomorrow.”

Lena’s eyes flashed with frustration. “Ren, you’ve seen this happen before. Mira’s not the first one to go silent. How many more will it take before you see the pattern?”

Ren shifted in her seat. “I just… I don’t know. Disruptors drop out sometimes. Maybe they go underground, or they stop communicating because they’ve gotten their work stolen or compromised. It doesn’t always mean something sinister is happening.”

Lena shook her head. “It’s not just disappearing into the shadows. They’re being silenced. You’ve heard about bio materials project. Remember Josie? She vanished two years ago. No warning, no explanation. She was working on something game-changing too. And now Mira.”

Ren rubbed her forehead, trying to stay grounded. “Yeah, but… that doesn’t mean someone’s behind it. Maybe it’s just—”

Lena cut her off. “It’s not just Mira and Josie. Three others have dropped contact in the last two years, all working on disruptive tech. We’re not talking about some random accidents. This is a pattern. Big corporations, the ones with the most to lose from real change, they don’t play fair. It’s cheaper for them to silence people than to adapt. It’s happened before.”

Ren looked down at her hands, not fully convinced. “I get it. There’s competition. But Mira was… well, she was cautious. It’s possible she just decided to back off for a while.”

“Or someone made that decision for her,” Lena said sharply. She leaned in closer, her voice lower. “This is why I push so hard for open-source tech. It’s not about just making things available—it’s about protection. If Mira had shared her work openly, they couldn’t just make her disappear. The more people who have access, the less control they have. That’s why I believe in it so strongly.”

Ren stayed silent, uncertain. She couldn’t deny that others had vanished, but still… she hadn’t seen hard proof. Maybe Mira was hiding, maybe she’d be in touch in a few days, or maybe Lena was right. The thought gnawed at them, but they weren’t ready to fully embrace it yet.

Lena crossed her arms. “We can’t keep letting this happen. And we can’t keep encouraging people to hoard their knowledge out of fear. We need a way to make sure that when someone goes dark, their work doesn’t vanish with them.”

Ren looked up, curious. “What are you thinking?”

Lena leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with an idea. “We create a device. Something that can be given to disruptors—scientists, innovators, anyone working on something big, or just anyone that requests. It records everything. Research, conversations, threats. If they go missing, if they’re taken out, it automatically uploads everything to a public network. Their killers get exposed, and their work gets shared.”

Ren blinked. “You want to build a… black box for disruptors?”

“Exactly,” Lena said, her voice rising with excitement. “Think about it. We could call it The Beacon. It would safeguard every disruptor’s work. If something happens to them, their research and the truth about their disappearance would be out there for everyone to see.”

Ren was quiet for a moment, the weight of the idea settling in. It was bold. Radical, even. But it made sense. If it had existed before, maybe they wouldn’t be sitting here, wondering what had happened to Mira—or Josie, or the others.

“That could work,” Ren said slowly. “It would make it impossible for anyone to silence disruptors without consequences.”

Lena nodded. “That’s the point. We give them no place to hide.”

Ren’s mind began to spin with possibilities. A device like that could shift the balance of power, take it out of the hands of the corporations that feared innovation and put it back into the hands of those who were driving progress.

Lena leaned back, her gaze steady. “This is how we fight back, Ren. We can’t rely on secrecy and paranoia. Open-source, and now The Beacon. That’s how we make sure the Mira’s of the world aren’t silenced.”

Ren sighed, the doubts still lingering but softened by the clarity of Lena’s vision. “You really believe something happened to her?”

Lena nodded without hesitation. “I’m sure of it. And I’m tired of watching it happen.”

Ren didn’t know if they could feel the same certainty, but they knew one thing for sure: they couldn’t let fear stifle innovation. Maybe they’d never know what happened to Mira. Maybe she’d resurface, or maybe she wouldn’t. But The Beacon could make sure the work of others wouldn’t disappear so easily.

Ren stood, feeling a sense of resolve settle in. “Let’s build it.”

Lena smiled, a fire in her eyes. “For Mira. And for the next disruptor.”

Ren nodded, glancing out over the glowing lights of the Lair. The fight to protect innovation wasn’t over—it was just beginning.