Subject 084: The Winter Protocol: 2

First contact wasn't a greeting. It was an audit. The translation is complete, but the truth is worse than anyone imagined. The alien signal wasn't a message-it was a survey. Now, a massive compliance ship belonging to a billion year-old galactic empire has parked in Mars orbit, and they are demanding to know who speaks for Earth. Jon Winter is the only human alive capable of fluently reading the Sovhari grammar. But as the geopolitical blocs of Earth fracture under the pressure of the alien arrival, Jon uncovers a buried, decades-old conspiracy: Project Genesis. He wasn't just born with a gift for the alien language. He was bioengineered to understand it. As the alien delegation arrives at the Spindle space elevator for a face-to-face summit, Jon is thrust into the center of a diplomatic tightrope. With his own government doubting his loyalty and rogue factions ready to burn the world down rather than submit to alien oversight, Jon must forge a unified human voice. If he fails, humanity won't just lose its seat at the galactic table-it will be erased from it.