Chapter 1 THE FIRST SIGN

ADRIAN POV

“Run it again,” I said, my voice cutting through the quiet office while still staring at my screen. 

Ethan stopped, his hand pausing on his keyboard and turning his face towards me. Confusion crossed his face. 

“We already ran it twice.”

“I know.” 

“Then why are we running it again?”

“Because I asked you to.” I said coldly. 

He stared at me for a second, searching my face for any sign that I was joking. Finding none, he turned towards his screen giving a faint sigh. 

“Fine.”

Ethan was one of the few people at the office I genuinely trusted. He understood me and never took my attitude personally.

The room was dark and quiet except for the sound of keyboards and the low hum of the servers behind the glass wall. It was almost midnight and most of the people who had worked on Project Apex for the last three years had given up and had already gone home.

I was still here. 

Tomorrow was the launch. If everything went according to plan, Project Apex would go live across Veyra City at eight in the morning.

If everything went according to plan. That was the part I didn't like. That is what was still keeping me awake and nervous. 

The screen refreshed. Green. Every test result was green.

Ethan pushed his rolling chair back, letting out a heavy breath. “There. Happy?”

“No.” I murmured, my eyes narrowing at his screen. 

He gave me a tired look. “You're the only person I've ever met who can look at a perfect report and find something wrong with it.”

“It's not perfect.”

He sighed, pinching the edge of his nose. “What did you find this time?”

I pointed at the screen. “Third column.”

Ethan leaned forward. “The transaction?”

“The timestamp.”

He traced the line of the code with his eyes, then frowned. “What’s wrong with it?”

“The request was made at 11:42.”

“Yeah! So?”

“The system recorded the request at 11:40.”

He stared at the screen again, blinking as he did the math in his head. 

“Two minutes? You are tripping over two minutes?”

“Two minutes is an eternity in a real-time kernel, Ethan.”

“It could just be a minor system delay, Adrian.” 

Ethan shook his head, a dry smirk touching his lips. “You know, normal people go home and sleep at this hour.”

“Normal people don't work on Apex.” I said bluntly. 

That got a small laugh out of him. He turned back to the computer.

Project Apex was built to do something no other system in Veyra City had ever done before. It could connect information from banks, companies, government offices, and even parts of Veyra City’s underground economy. On paper, it was a data system. In reality, it was much bigger than that.

If Apex worked the way we designed it, a person’s rank wouldn’t just be a number. It would show who they were connected to, where their influence came from and how much of their information could actually be trusted.

That was why I had spent three years of my life working on it. And that was also why I didn't like small mistakes.

“Adrian.” Ethan’s voice broke my thoughts. 

I looked down at him. “What is it?”

“It's clean.” He said softly. “Look”. 

He turned the monitor toward me. The access record was there. Everything looked normal. No unusual activity.

I checked the timestamp again. It was still showing a two minute difference. But this time I didn't complain.

I stared at both screens. The system was looking me in the eye and telling me everything was perfectly fine. That should have eased the tension in my shoulders. Instead, my gut twisted tighter.

“What are you looking for again?” Ethan asked as he watched my eyes dart along the screen. 

I didn't answer immediately. I wasn't sure how to explain it. There was no obvious problem. Just a feeling that something wasn't sitting where it should.

“What am I not seeing?” I said quietly to myself. 

Ethan looked at me. “What?”

“Nothing. You can go.” 

Ethan threw his hands up in triumph, a wide smile breaking across his face. “See? Absolutely nothing. We are rock solid for tomorrow.”

I gave a slow nod. “Okay.”

He relaxed, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his eyes. I didn't move an inch. 

I went back to the first record to recheck. At first, nothing happened. 

Then a small line appeared near the bottom of the screen.

EXTERNAL ACCESS DETECTED.

My spine snapped straight. “Stop.”

Ethan looked over at me in confusion. “What?”

“Don't touch anything.”

His hands froze in mid-air. 

The message disappeared.

I blinked, shifting closer till my chest almost touched the screen. “Did you see that?”

“See… what?”

I pulled up the command panel and started typing, trying to find whatever I had just seen.

Ethan frowned, watching me work with concern. “Okay, man…You're starting to scare me. That's not funny, Adrian.”

I checked the record one more time. Still nothing. Maybe it had been a display error. My phone buzzed. I looked at the screen. A message from security.

PERIMETER CHECK COMPLETE. NO IRREGULARITIES.

I put the phone away.

“Look I'm done for tonight,” Ethan said, standing.

“You're leaving?”

He gave me a disbelieving look. “It's midnight.”

“It's just twelve thirteen.” I said.

He shook his head and walked toward the door. “Goodnight, Adrian. Get some rest before the mayor comes. 

“Goodnight Ethan.” 

The door closed behind him. I stayed back. Not because I enjoyed working late. But because I didn't trust important things to stop just because everyone else had gone home.

I walked toward the glass wall overlooking the main operations floor. Rows of computers were still running. A few engineers moved between their stations. Their voices low against the glass proof window.

My phone buzzed again. I pulled it out.

This time, it wasn't a message. It was a Project Apex notification.

I opened it.

ADMINISTRATIVE COMMAND RECEIVED.

I frowned. I hadn't sent one. I tapped on my screen and opened the details. Then I saw the authorization. My name was attached to it.

AUTHORIZED BY: ADRIAN KANE

I stared at the screen. My breath becoming ragged. 

I checked my passcode. It was still in my pocket. I hadn't touched the administrative control panel. 

I opened the command history. The record showed that the command had been created less than a minute ago.

I checked the workstation behind me but nobody was there. 

I looked back at my phone. The screen refreshed. Another command appeared. Then another. All under my name.

My stomach tightened. Someone was using my credentials.

I opened the security details.

USER: ADRIAN KANE

AUTHENTICATION: VERIFIED

I read it twice. There was no mistake.

The system wasn't malfunctioning. It believed the person sending those commands was me.

Then a final notification appeared. Very bright. 

EXECUTION PENDING.

SYSTEM OVERRIDE INITIATED.

I stopped breathing for a second.

Someone had gotten into Project Apex. They had my credentials. And they were using my name to take control of the system I built.

And whatever they were about to do, they had designed it so that I would take the blame.