Perseus Jackson has lived long enough to know one universal truth:modern governments are allergic to reading their own paperwork.
So when an FBI task force kicks down his door and arrests him on suspicion of being an international assassin, Perseus doesn’t panic. He doesn’t resist. He doesn’t even stop drinking his coffee.
He just sighs.
Because he knows exactly what happens next.
One phone call triggers the Echelon Protocol — a top‑secret “oh no we messed up again” failsafe designed specifically to stop federal agents from detaining a certain long‑lived consultant. Within minutes:
the NSA is in full meltdown, the CIA is arguing with itself, Ghost Ops is already airborne for some reason, and half of America’s allies are calling to ask why the United States has detained him again.
Perseus, meanwhile, is handcuffed in an interrogation room, politely reminding agents that this exact situation is covered in Section 4, Paragraph 3 of the memo nobody ever reads.
And that’s only the beginning.
Because once the dust settles, people start digging.And the more they dig, the more unhinged things get — historians lose their minds, agencies panic, Reddit explodes, and the entire internet collectively decides to investigate a man who really just wants to finish his book in peace.
A long‑lived consultant.A normal world.And a bureaucracy determined to create chaos at every opportunity.
Hey everyone, just a quick update for the OG readers. As some of you know, this story originally ran here on Royal Road from January to May. Since I started posting the 'Dossier' over on Reddit, I’ve been doing a complete rewrite of the entire novel to improve the quality and tighten up the timeline.
If you were here for the original run, please note that this is the new, definitive version. I’ve refined the tone and the details to make Perseus’s journey as airtight as possible. Thanks for sticking with me through the second crossing!"
