CHAPTER 14
The moment Vance left,
the alarms began to blare.
The lights flickered violently,
and the computer screens turned blood red.
Daniel shouted from his workstation,
his fingers flying across the keyboard.
"We are under a massive cyber attack,"
he yelled,
trying to block the incoming breach.
"They are targeting the safety and reporting platforms,
the ones you just installed!"
My heart sank,
realizing Vance's true strategy.
He wanted to destroy our reputation,
by exposing the anonymous data of abuse survivors.
"Block them,
Daniel,"
I cried out,
rushing to his side.
"If that data leaks,
thousands of innocent people will be in danger!"
"I am trying,"
Daniel gasped,
sweat pouring down his face.
"But their firewall is incredibly sophisticated,
it's like they have an inside key."
An inside key meant only one thing,
we had a traitor in our midst.
Natalie ran into the room,
her face pale with horror.
"The main server room is locked from the inside,"
she reported,
her voice trembling.
"Someone is manually uploading the virus,
right now."
Liam didn't hesitate,
turning toward the door immediately.
"I'll break it down,"
he said,
his voice filled with determination.
I followed him down the long corridor,
our footsteps echoing in the panicked halls.
The server room door was reinforced steel,
impenetrable to normal force.
Liam looked around,
grabbing a heavy metal fire extinguisher from the wall.
He smashed it against the electronic lock,
sparks flying everywhere.
Inside the darkened room,
a shadow was hunched over the main terminal.
As the door gave way,
the figure turned around in panic.
It was one of our senior network administrators,
a man Ethan had hired years ago.
He had a flash drive plugged into the core server,
the data bar blinking green.
"Stop,"
I screamed,
lunging forward.
The traitor tried to flee,
but Liam tackled him to the ground.
The physical struggle was brief,
as Liam pinned him down effortlessly.
I rushed to the terminal,
ripping the flash drive out of the slot.
The red screens blinked,
returning to their normal blue state.
Daniel's voice came through the intercom,
sounding relieved but exhausted.
"The breach is contained,
the data is safe."
I fell back against the wall,
breathing a sigh of pure relief.
We had stopped the leak,
but the betrayal stung deeply.
May you like
Vance's reach was everywhere,
and no one could be trusted completely.
