Chaos erupted.
Flashing red lights painted the high-tech facility in a frantic glow. Sirens wailed, a piercing, insistent shriek that grated on Elias’s nerves. The consortium leader, a man they had within their grasp, was gone.
Gone, vanished into the swirling smoke and the sudden blackout that had crippled their perfect trap. Elias’s jaw clenched, a muscle jumping in his temple. This wasn't an escape; it was an extraction.
Someone inside had helped him.
Amelia, beside him, scanned the frantic scene. Her eyes, usually so sharp, held a flicker of disbelief. "How?" she breathed, her voice barely audible above the alarms. "Everything was locked down. Every protocol followed."
His gaze swept over the security team, their faces etched with confusion and panic. They were Thorne Industries’ finest, loyal and meticulously vetted. Yet, a breach had occurred.
"Someone fed them information," Elias stated, his voice a low growl. "From the inside."
His hand shot out, grabbing the nearest security console operator. "Access all logs! Security feeds, server activity, personnel movements within the last hour. Now!"
Sweat beaded on the operator's brow as his fingers flew across the keyboard. The main display flickered, then stabilised, showing fragmented feeds of the pandemonium. It was a blur of shadows, figures moving too fast, then the sudden, blinding darkness.
"Pinpoint the exact moment of the power surge and the system override," Amelia instructed, her own mind already shifting into crisis mode. "Where did it originate?"
Minutes stretched into an eternity. The air hung thick with tension, the metallic tang of fear and frustration. Elias paced, his steps heavy, a predator cornered in his own domain. This wasn't just a failure; it was a personal affront.
He had built Thorne Industries on trust, on the unwavering loyalty of his people. The idea that someone within his inner circle could betray him sent a cold dread through his veins.
Suddenly, the operator gasped. "Sir! Look at this."
All eyes snapped to the main screen. A timestamp flickered, marking the precise moment the security grid went dark. Below it, an access log.
It showed an override command. An authorised user. From a secure terminal, deep within the executive wing.
Elias felt a chill colder than any air conditioning system. His executive wing. Where only a handful of the most trusted individuals had access to such high-level clearances.