Chapter 2 THE SYSTEM TURNS AGAINST HIM

ADRIAN POV

“Come back, Ethan.” I said into the receiver my voice low and commanding.

The moment I saw those messages, I didn’t hesitate to call Ethan immediately. Not because I think he was responsible but because I wanted him to be aware.

“What happened?” he asked his voice also sounding low and filled with anxiety.

“The system just locked me out.”

“I’m coming,” he said almost immediately.

The call ended with a sharp click.

Without hesitation, I lowered my phone and turned back to the primary workstation. I slammed my palm onto the glass scanner and typed my administrator code.

[ACCESS DENIED]

I didn’t stop. I wiped my palms on my trousers and tried my backup authorization code this time.

[ACCESS DENIED]

My fingers froze above the glass, hanging in mid-air. That had never happened before.

Project Apex was literally built around my access level since I was the lead director of the project. If I couldn’t enter the system, something must have happened without my authorization.

Less than a minute later, the door opened with a loud hiss in the air.

Ethan stepped inside, looking more tired than before.

“You sounded serious,” he said, his eyes scanning my face.

I didn’t even reply. I moved aside quickly to our monitor with a quick gesture and pointed at the screen.

His expression changed into pure confusion the moment he read the screen.

“What happened?” he asked, stepping closer like he wasn’t understanding what he was seeing.

Right there, another command appeared.

[ADMINISTRATIVE COMMAND RECEIVED]

[AUTHORIZED BY: ADRIAN KANE]

Ethan stared at the glowing letters, his mouth opening slightly. “You... you didn’t send that right?”

“Of course not.” My voice still sounding low, trying to avoid the internal security from hearing our conversation.

Ethan moved closer to the screen. “How many times has this come up.”

“Seven so far.”

He looked up at me, his eyes wide. “Can you stop them?”

“I can’t even access the basic control panel, Ethan.”

His eyes drifted back to the screen. “That’s not normal.”

I shifted sharply, I got an idea. “I think I can shut the system down.”

“How?” he asked, looking surprised.

I reached towards him and pulled up the command history from the system, and traced the source so I could shut the system.

I was late. The source location was cleared and the authorization which I didn’t give was already flying round.

The first went to the Apex server. The next went to a private financial network. Then a government database.

My eyes narrowed as I saw the database flying.

“That’s impossible.” I muttered sharply, still trying all my possible best to shut the system down.

“What? Talk to me, Adrian, I’m confused, he said watching me as I wildly kept tapping on the keyboard.

“Aren’t you seeing, Apex is reaching outside its unauthorized network.”

Ethan studied the screen. He didn’t look nearly as alarmed as he should have. That irritated me.

“Stop standing there and do something.” I burst out angrily, my eyes still on the screen.

He gave out a low sigh. Trying to do something on his own system.

I cut the external connections.

[REQUEST DENIED]

I forced the command through manually.

[REQUEST DENIED]

Now, Apex wasn’t just ignoring me. It was blocking me.

Ethan looked at me, his face lighted like he just finally got an idea. “Can we shut Apex down completely? From the breakers?”

“I already tried.”

“Then try again,” he urged, his voice cracking.

“I can’t, Ethan. The system won’t let me.”

Before he could answer, every display monitor in the room flickered violently and changed at once. A massive system warning appeared in red.

[SECURITY BREACH DETECTED]

Ethan stumbled back, nearly stripping off his own chair. “What the hell?”

My stomach dropped. I stared at the screens then turned toward him.

He stared at the warning for a few seconds longer than he should have. Then his phone buzzed.

He glanced at the screen.Something in his expression changed, but it was gone almost immediately.

“We need to get out of here,” he said taking a step back towards the hallway.

Suddenly my phone buzzed again. A security notification appeared again.

[PROJECT APEX HAS BEEN HACKED]

[PRIMARY SUSPECT: ADRIAN KANE]

The moment I saw that, I wasn’t staying around to find out what happened next.

“We need to leave,” I looked up expecting to see Ethan, but he wasn’t standing there anymore.

I looked around. He wasn’t inside.

While I had been staring paralyzed at my phone, the door must have hissed open behind my back. He had slipped out without a word.

I wasn’t ready to start searching for anyone as I started preparing to escape. While I kept packing up hurriedly, my eyes darted to the security camera screen facing me.

At first, the main corridor outside the door was empty. Then two corporate officers appeared at the far end of the frame, moving fast. More officers joined them straight from the service elevators. They were coming from the lower floor. All of them moving in tight formation straight towards my office.

I wasn’t going to keep standing there. I planned escaping towards the door and probably start opening the door slightly so they won’t hear me escaping.

Sadly, my plan failed. The office automated voice screamed through the air.

[FACILITY LOCKDOWN INITIATED]

Every door on the floor clicked shut.

I tried the nearest exit and throw my shoulder at it, not bothered about the sound this time around. But I wasn’t strong enough to break the hard door.

“What now?” I questioned myself.

The officers were still moving again. They did not have normal guard guns. They had heavy capture tools.

My chest tightened.

Apex had been turned against me. No one trusted me enough to know I didn’t do this. And now the people meant to protect the facility believed I was the threat.

A loud voice came through the hallway speakers.

“Adrian Kane!”

I froze.

“Step away from the system and keep your hands where we can see them!”

I stared at the locked door, strategizing how I was going to break the door. Because My name. My credentials and everything they needed to ruin my life was already logged into the system. And someone had made sure there was no way out.

Another voice came through the speakers. This time it sounded cold: “Adrian Kane, you are being detained for unauthorized access and sabotage to Project Apex.”

I looked toward the door where Ethan had disappeared. For a moment, I wondered where he had gone.

Then another thought came. What if he hadn’t left because he was afraid? What if he had left because he knew what was coming?

Then the door handle moved. Someone was trying to get inside.

I stared back at the camera screen, the officer team were still on their way up here.

The handle moved again.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

I stepped back from the door.

The security team couldn’t have reached this floor yet. So who was on the other side?

It’s either this person was trying to help me escape or was making it easier for the security to get me.