Qohen Leth sat in his dimly lit, cluttered workspace, surrounded by a maze of cables and screens. The room was suffused with an eerie silence, broken only by the hum of machinery and the soft tap of his fingers on the keyboard. Suddenly, a jarring ring cut through the stillness, and an old-fashioned rotary phone on his desk came to life.

With trembling hands, he picked up the receiver, his voice a mix of apprehension and anticipation as he spoke into it, "Hello? Who is it?"