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“The code is consistent. The decision-making is consistent. The style is consistent. One person did this.”

“A freelancer, then. Someone hired for the job.”

“That’s my assessment.” I turn back to the screen. “The questions are who hired them, and what were they looking for.”

“The financial data,” Kirill says. “They accessed transaction patterns, routing structures, offshore accounts. If they were looking for operational intelligence, they didn’t take it. If they were looking for personnel records, they didn’t touch them. They only took money trails.”

“Which means they were either hired to trace our finances specifically, or they were testing our defenses to see what they could access.” I pause. “Or both.”

The room is quiet for a moment. My analysts are watching me, waiting for instructions. Andrei stands by the door, his arms crossed. Ivan is still processing, his mind working through the implications the way it always does.

“Find them,” I say.

Andrei steps forward. “We’re already working on—”

“Not the system. The person.” I turn to face him. “This identifier will lead us somewhere. A digital footprint, a pattern of behavior, something that connects to a real human being. I want that human being found and brought to me.”

“Alive?” Andrei asks.

“Alive and undamaged. I need to speak with them before any decisions are made.”

Andrei nods and leaves the room. I turn back to the monitors.

The hacker is still inside our systems. Still moving through our financial layers, still extracting data, still unaware that we’re watching. I could shut them down right now. Cut their access, trace their connection, identify their location in minutes.

I don’t want to shut them down. I want to understand them.

I sit back down and start watching in real time. Every movement they make, every decision point they reach, every pathway they choose. I’m not looking for data anymore, I’m looking for the mind behind the data. The way they think, the way they solve problems, the way they see the world through the lens of our systems.

It’s fascinating.

Most people who encounter our security give up or get caught. They don’t have the patience, the skill, or the creativity to navigate something designed to keep them out. This person isn’t just navigating—they’re exploring. They’re taking their time, moving through our architecture with a curiosity that goes beyond mere extraction.

They want to understand how we built this, why we built it this way, what the structure reveals about the people who created it.

I recognize that impulse. It’s the same one that drives me when I encounter a problem I can’t immediately solve. The need to understand, to map, to make the unknown known.

This hacker thinks like I do. The realization sits uncomfortably in my chest.

I spend the next three hours watching. The hacker continues their work, methodical and unhurried, and I continue mine. By the time they finally withdraw, I have a comprehensive profile of their methodology.

Andrei returns as I’m compiling the final report.

“We’ve traced the connection to a regional server,” he says. “From there, it routes through several proxies, but our team is working on narrowing down the physical location.”

“How long?”

“A few days, maybe. These things take time.”

“I don’t have time.” I stand and face him. “The identifier I found, I need you to cross-reference it with any known hacker profiles, freelance contractors, or cybersecurity specialists who have worked with government agencies in the past five years. This person has been doing this for a while. They have a history somewhere.”

Andrei nods and leaves again.

I turn to Ivan. He’s still standing in the corner, his expression unreadable.

“You’re taking this personally,” he says.

“I’m taking it seriously.”