“I don’t know. Ericson said he got a firewall notification around six-thirty, and then another around eight, but then the whole building blacked out around a half hour ago.”
“Generators didn’t kick on?” I ask.
“No. But Sloane…” She sounds terrified.
“What?” I bite. “What is it?”
“I think you need to see this," she says, her voice deadly serious.
A moment later the image comes through.
It’s the lab. My heart lurches at the sight. Papers strewn everywhere, and all the computer screens, broken. Shattered. The server wall destroyed. Spray painted across the wall is the words,You shouldn’t have come back, Flynn.Beneath the words is what looks like an ip address, and a haphazardly spraypainted QR code. All in red. Dripping paint like blood.
“Did anyone check that fucking IP or the code?”
Chickadee huffs out a heavy breath. “Ericson said the last thing he remembers is the door opening. Said he thought it was security coming to check the outage, but then something hit him in the head and—he woke up a half hour ago, thanks to the police. I called you as soon as I found out. Ericson said he tried to call you when it happened, but—”
I close my eyes, remembering my phone going off. Remembering his name.
I should have answered. I should have fucking answered!
I scream and nearly throw the damn phone across the room.
“Fucking asshole!” I scream, almost forgetting Chickadee is on the line. I leap out of bed and dress myself.
“Tech and police tried the ip and the code, but you need a log in and the cybersquad can’t crack it.”
“Why not?” I bite.
“It’s encrypted, Sloane. Hold on, I’m sending you pictures.”
A second later, the image comes through of the screen. Black with red interface, there are two open text fields. User and Password. The User’s box is already filled with a username.
Mast3r.Heat floods me. “I know the code.”
Chickadee gasps. “He says he knows the code!” she calls, and I hear voices in the background.
“It’s Glitch.” I fight to keep my breath still as I dress myself and scream out “Ghost Veil Activate Glitch Protocol.”
“What is Ghost Veil Glitch Protocol…” Chickadee asks.
Ericson can be heard in the background. “What is Ghost Veil?”
“I don’t have time to explain, just… hold tight.” I swallow hard as I race down my stairs to the kitchen, sprinting down to my personal lab as the house beeps and whirs and the voice of Ghost speaks to me.
“Activating Ghost Veil Glitch Protocol. Servers initiating in ten seconds.”
“Servers should be kicking back on in a few seconds.”
“Is he controlling the servers remotely?” Maria asks with a gasp.
“Yes,” I say as I log into Ghost and type as fast as I can, bringing up the cameras for the building and the server room. I minimize the windows as I type the commands to enter the Ghost Veil system for the house. The power kicks back on with a heavy clunking whir and the lights come on. I trace the signature back to the crash, when the power went out. Eleven pm. Same time as the servers in the lab.
“Detectives are into the login…” she says. “I’m video calling you.”
I watch with bated breath as she shows me the screen, projected in the conference room. Detectives and police line the room along with Maria, Bill, Ericson, and Chickadee. It’s my worst nightmare come to life.
The screen showcases a loading screen, a red hourglass.
