THE DEFECTION PROTOCOL: When the Game Is Rigged, Only the Predator Survives

A risk architect who believes empathy is a liability. A clinical neuropsychiatrist who sees the truth beneath his armor. A corporate empire built on game theory—now collapsing under a single, rigged move.

When David Vance’s bestselling manifesto ignites a national firestorm, he becomes the target of a brutal corporate ambush that freezes his accounts, seizes his intellectual property, and destroys his fortress of control. But the attack exposes something deeper: a predator who knows David’s algorithms better than he does.

Dr. Claire Brennan has spent her career decoding trauma, not weaponizing it. Yet when David appears at her institute’s door—carrying two sealed Pelican cases and the ruins of his empire—she must decide whether he is a patient, an ally, or the most dangerous variable she’s ever encountered.

In a world where every system is corruptible, the only way out is to rewrite the rules. But survival has a cost—and David Vance has already swallowed the poison.