Chapter 6 #2
“They call it risk mitigation,” Max replied. “But it’s leverage.”
Jason stared at the screen, seeing not just data, but futures bent quietly out of shape. Guardian ended threats. Darkwater created them. “They’re building a sovereign intelligence apparatus,” Jason said.
“Yes,” Max answered. “And they’re experimenting with predictive systems that don’t just forecast events.
They recommend actions. Small ones. Invisible ones.
The system was initially built to recommend security actions, and for that purpose, it’s sublime.
However, someone saw an opportunity and bastardized it. ”
Jason’s eyes hardened. “That’s the red line.”
“It is,” Max said. “And they’re close.”
Jason shifted forward. “So, why now?”
Max stopped the screen share.
“Because of Maggie,” he said.
Jason frowned. “Maggie? The same Maggie who Reece gave his name and number to?”
“One and the same,” Max said. “Senior systems architect at Darkwater. A young woman from Nebraska who tests off the charts, is a prodigy when it comes to systems, and the one who Reece helped out.”
Jason waited.
“She ran a search on Reece,” Max continued. “And she didn’t find him.”
Jason felt a flicker of something sharp and cold. “She didn’t like that.”
“She didn’t,” Max said. “Which means she’s as smart as her records say, and she’s paying attention.”
Jason considered that. A woman inside a compromised system, still asking questions. Still believing in the original mission.
“Is she compromised?” Jason asked.
“No,” Max said immediately. “She’s the opposite.
The systems she built were meant to protect people, not control them.
She doesn’t know the full extent of what Darkwater’s become yet, but she feels it.
As I said, I’ve been watching them. I built a program and quietly inserted it into the facility’s monitoring system. They have cameras and mics everywhere.”
“And they won’t see you in the system?”
Max snorted. “Hardly. My report would’ve been up channeled within the next two weeks, but China has been being a dick, and Ethan and I are tag-teaming them into submission again.”
Jason leaned back, absorbing that.
“And you believe this woman is the way in,” he said.
“I believe she’s the way through,” Max replied. “She can dismantle Darkwater without burning the world down and rebuild it with ethics, oversight, and rules.”
Jason’s thoughts turned, already moving pieces into place. “And Reece?”
Max’s expression shifted, just slightly. “Reece crossed her path before she ran the search. Gave her his name. His number.”
Jason felt a brief, complicated tightening in his chest. “And now she knows he doesn’t exist.”
“Yes,” Max said. “Which means she knows something’s off.”
Jason nodded once. “And Darkwater doesn’t.”
“Until four days ago, they thought she was just a brilliant engineer who believes in the system,” Max said. “After she started snooping, they implemented a mandatory thirty-day on and thirty-day off schedule. As of now, the only teams that are required to abide by it are the system architects.
Jason was quiet for a long moment.
“Keep eyes on her, help her out,” he said finally. “Quietly.”
“Already doing that, but we have a complication.” Max lifted an eyebrow at him.
“Reece.”
“Yep. If he gave her his real name and cell, she made an impact on him.”
“If Darkwater moves against her,” Jason added, his voice firm, “we intervene.”
“They won’t get the chance,” Max said.
And Jason knew, with absolute certainty, that Guardian would not look the same on the other side. “Why are people buying Darkwater’s scam?”
“Well,” Max said. “Because the architecture is elegant. On the surface.”
Jason’s gaze sharpened. “On the surface?”
Max leaned forward. “Here’s where it gets interesting. The CEO, Adrian Kestrel.”
Jason waited.
“His past is … inconsistent,” Max continued. “There are gaps. Clean gaps. The kind that don’t happen accidentally. Someone buried his past, but they didn’t go deep enough.”
Jason’s jaw tightened. “Buried what?”
“Old affiliations. Financial ties that don’t line up with his current narrative. A few names that disappear right when they shouldn’t.” Max shrugged faintly. “I don’t have the full picture yet. But I will. You said ASAP, so I got the dirt that was visible and impressions.”
“What else?”
“Maggie Brooks,” Max narrowed his eyes. “She was the one who wrote the majority of the elegant code. I dug up some of her work in college, and the signature is the same.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed. “Without her knowing, I’m assuming.”
“Yes. I’ve been poking around that oil rig since they powered up.
When the site went online, I was interested, so I did what I do.
There was no urgency, just monitoring it and having a gut feeling they weren’t who they said they were.
And in the past two weeks, China has had me too busy to do more than guide her when she started looking and cover up a couple of her searches so whoever is watching her doesn’t know how deeply she’s searching. ”
“Why her?”
“Why what? Why am I shadowing her?”
“Yes.”
“Because she’s honest. One of the best on that platform, if not the best,” Max said simply. “And now, because whatever she’s snooping for is what triggered this entire chain of events with Reece.”
Jason was quiet for a moment. “Okay, tell me what happened yesterday.”
Max didn’t hesitate. “I’ve got it on my system.
Sorry, it isn’t cleaned up, but I didn’t know I’d be presenting it to you this morning.
See her search in real time. Here Maggie attempted to search for Reece,” he said.
As the screen started to scroll, Max narrated, “Public databases. Private databases. Cross-referenced queries. I blocked all of it.”
“She tried to find my son.”
“She did,” Max confirmed. “And she couldn’t because I didn’t want her to light up the wrong systems. Obviously, our gatekeeping system woke you up, though.”
“More than once.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Did she succeed in anything?”
“No,” Max said. “She found exactly what I allowed her to find on any of our primaries. Which is nothing.”
Jason nodded once. “Good.”
“There’s more,” Max added.
The screen changed to grainy but clear footage pulled from multiple angles. Jason recognized his son’s stature instantly.
“I pulled camera surveillance based on Reece’s phone’s GPS ping yesterday,” Max said. “Public cameras. Private feeds. Municipal overlap.”
The footage played.
Two men approached Maggie. They were not professional, but they managed to box her in.
Reece entered the frame seconds later, positioning himself without hesitation.
He noticed the subtle shifts and the way the men adjusted.
He saw the woman grab the back of his t-shirt, and that moment stuck with him.
She was afraid. Then he watched as the two men backed off.
Jason watched it all without speaking.
“Reece identified the threat immediately,” Max continued, “and disrupted without escalation. Textbook.”
Jason’s mouth curved slightly. He was proud of his son for making a stand for the woman. “He was always good at that.”
“The men followed them for several blocks,” Max said. “Flanking behavior. Maggie reported it to hotel security. I saw the logbook entry. It was the correct move. Then Reece found them.”
The camera switched, and Jason watched as his son lifted a grown man off his feet and held him against the brick wall. The second man was no harder to control.
“He told them not to harass her anymore, or there would be consequences.”
Jason smiled. “I probably wouldn’t have stopped at that.”
“Yeah, but he did, which is good. All video of Reece and Maggie during that situation is gone.
“Clear him out of the area.”
“Already have Ethan doing that.”
“Good.” Jason’s expression hardened. “And Darkwater? Did they coordinate this?”
Max shook his head. “I guaran-damn-tee it.”
Jason closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. “You think the CEO sent those men.”
“I think the CEO, or whoever is actually at the top of this mess, wanted to see how close she was. They found a way to get her off the rig, and I’ve been watching them tear through her program.
They won’t find anything. I made sure of it,” Max said carefully.
“Pressure without violence. As far as the executives are concerned, she’s a small mathematical problem, and they were trying to see if they needed to eliminate any chance of compromise. ”
“And Reece wasn’t part of the equation,” Jason said.
“No,” Max agreed. “Reece complicated it.”
Jason leaned forward, forearms on the desk. “What do you need?”
“Time,” Max said. “And for Reece not to disappear off-grid just yet. He’s a variable they didn’t plan for.”
Jason considered that. “He won’t like being watched.”
Max allowed himself the faintest hint of a smile. “He’s always being watched, whether he likes it or not. At least this way, I can make sure he gets any help he may need. Oh, and have him put his comms back in so I can reach out if I see something he doesn’t.”
Jason nodded once. “Find out who the CEO really is, whether or not he’s at the top of this mess, as you say, and keep my kid safe, please.”
“I’ll find out everything there is to know,” Max said. “And when I do, we’ll know whether Darkwater is simply compromised”—he glanced back at the distant image of the offshore platform on the screen—“or whether it was built wrong from the start.”
Jason followed his gaze. “Do you think it was?”
“I’m so jaded that it was my first and only thought.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“Seems to be, but that’s for our therapists to deal with.” Max chuckled. “There’s no immediate threat from Darkwater. I’m going to go to my workout. I have a new sparring partner since Ethan moved. The new guy’s a tough workout.”
“A Guardian?”
“Oh, definitely. I tell you, Lycos can choose them.”
Jason laughed. “Why pick the hard ones?”
Max scoffed. “Because it’s no fun humbling the weak ones.”