The House of MirrorsBook One of the Lantern Cycleby F. W. RandolIn a fractured near-future republic drowning in misinformation, one man promises salvation through control. Adrian Vale, the prodigy behind the global media empire Reflecta, vows to deliver "absolute truth" through artificial intelligence. Instead, he builds a world where facts are edited, history is rewritten, and obedience is the only safety left.As riots fade and order tightens, journalist Eliya Trask begins to see the cracks forming behind Vale's perfect mirror. Guided by a dying engineer's warnings and a dissident general's conscience, she uncovers a system that doesn't merely censor dissent-it rewires memory itself.From whispered broadcasts to outlawed classrooms, from digital silence to the quiet courage of those who simply stand, The House of Mirrors traces the rise and unraveling of a society that traded truth for comfort-and the small, human acts that ignite rebellion.Both political thriller and moral fable, this first volume of The Lantern Cycle reflects a chilling question for our own age: when every reflection lies, who dares to remember what's real?