Part 14
After tucking Zoe into her massive, cloud-like bed, Marcus made his way down to the subterranean level of the estate.
This was his sanctuary, a state-of-the-art command center that rivaled government intelligence agencies.
The walls were lined with massive, curved OLED screens displaying real-time data streams from across the globe.
Servers hummed softly in the background, cooled by a silent, proprietary liquid thermal system Marcus had designed himself.
He sat down in his leather command chair, tapping a single button on his glass desk.
"Good morning, Aegis," Marcus said, his voice echoing slightly in the vast room.
"Good morning, Mr. Johnson," the AI replied, its voice smooth and flawlessly human. "I have compiled the data you requested regarding the Sterling Hospitality Group board of directors."
Marcus leaned forward, his eyes scanning the information rapidly populating the main screen.
The takeover of the hotel had just been the first localized strike; now came the surgical dismantling of the rot at the top.
A face appeared on the screen, a stern-looking man in his sixties with silver hair and an expensive suit.
"Elias Thorne," Aegis announced. "Chairman of the Board. He has called an emergency session to block your majority shareholder rights."
Marcus let out a low, humorless chuckle.
"Thorne thinks he can hide behind corporate bylaws," Marcus said, shaking his head at the predictable arrogance.
"My analysis indicates he has been siphoning pension funds into offshore accounts for the past seven years," Aegis added.
"Of course he has," Marcus muttered, cracking his knuckles as he brought his hands to his keyboard.
He didn't just want to fire Thorne; he wanted to make an example of him that the entire financial sector would never forget.
Marcus’s fingers flew across the keys, bypassing firewalls and encryption protocols with terrifying speed.
He wasn't just a CEO; he was the architect of the very security systems these executives mistakenly thought protected them.
Within minutes, he had mapped every hidden account, every shell company, and every illegal wire transfer Thorne had ever authorized.
"Aegis, package all of this data into a secure file," Marcus commanded, his eyes cold and focused.
May you like
"Done, sir. Where would you like it sent?"
"Hold onto it for now," Marcus said, a sharp smile forming on his lips. "I want to deliver this to Mr. Thorne personally."
