The dramatic shift in public opinion caught the CIA completely off guard.
What the CIA had anticipated even less was that Madelyn would die in an explosion on the very day they leaked the news to The Times Evening News.
To ordinary people, it might have looked like a coincidence.
But the CIA had handled thousands of cases. In their experience, most things that looked like coincidences were nothing of the sort.
Behind them, an unseen hand was pulling the strings.
Madelyn's death was no accident, and the explosion was more than a simple terrorist attack.
Looking at the whole affair, Vought International had gone from an industry giant that used Psychic Powers for its own gain to humanity's hope against Evil. The attack appeared to have dealt the company a devastating blow, but in the long run, Vought International stood to benefit.
Public reliance on Vought International had reached its peak. People longed for a new world where Psychic Powers would no longer belong to a select few, where anyone could transform themselves through Vought International's genetic technology. Civilization would stride into a new age in which everyone was a Supe.
Events had gone beyond anything the CIA expected. They had to take further action to stop the momentum.
Victoria Neuman, the youngest member of Congress in the Federation's history, spoke out on social media. She leveled fierce accusations against Vought International. With public opinion tipping toward the company, her opposition drew even more attention.
"First, even if Vought International was a victim of this terrorist attack, that does not erase the fact that it illegally injected people with Compound V. According to the information I have, Compound V has unimaginable side effects. The mortality rate for adults who receive injections is extremely high, and even those who gain