Chapter Nineteen
Sloane
After a long, hot shower, when I finally collapse in bed, I am exhausted.
I stare up at the ceiling, my mind wandering to earlier, on Oliver’s doorstep.
When I kissed him and got carried away. I hadn’t seen any cameras near his porch, but the thought still nags at me.
I try to shove it away, telling myself I’m probably being paranoid, but paranoia wins out and after an eternity of tossing and turning in my bed, I get up and grab my laptop and bring it into bed with me.
The soft glow of the screen comes to life as I log into Ghost, my custom private server that functions as my internet security system and cloaking device.
The Veil was created to enhance existing systems, and Phantom was proposed to be Veil’s first standalone system, but it wasn’t technically the first.
Ghost was supposed to be a side project, and in many ways, it still is. I don’t trust anything I didn’t write the code for. Call me paranoid, but I prefer to have all the information and complete control. Especially when it comes to my personal life, especially on the internet.
Veil was always about surveillance security.
Even a one-second delay can be pivotal, especially in a life or death situation.
Veil takes away that delay. It boosts whatever system it’s attached to, increasing detection and emergency response.
But Ghost? There isn’t much I can’t access with Ghost. Like Veil, it boosts internet security, but also erases the digital footprint.
I’ve never put it to market, though, and I likely never will.
Safety isn’t safe if it is misused. And I’m smart enough to know that if Ghost fell into the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic.
But sometimes, it pays to be discreet. It doesn’t take me long to run the program and detect the cameras closest to Oliver’s apartment.
I cycle through them, looking to see how many there are, where they are positioned, and how often the tapes are wiped.
I know it’s not ethical, and I know it’s not legal to do this, but it isn’t the first time I’ve done illegal things.
Though it’s been years since I’ve put my Mast3r_Gl1tch hacking skills to use, and the first time I’m using it for my own personal reasons.
I can’t shake this feeling of paranoia and dread.
It’s like a compulsion. I need to know what I’m dealing with in case anything backfires on me.
The Zulu Company, the company that owns Oliver’s building, has very few cameras.
One in the parking lot, one focused on building A, one on the back end of building B.
I cycle through the feeds, comparing them to maps and blueprints as I try to line up the locations with Oliver’s apartment, and that’s when I see it.
The cameras poised outside of building C—Oliver’s building—are turned off.
“That’s odd," I say as I stroke a few keys. It’s possible that they could have crashed, or the battery could have died, or there could have just been a malfunction with the server or connection, but… something tells me it’s more than that. Call it a hunch.
A couple taps of my keys and I’m turning the camera back on remotely. It snaps and blurs until it adjusts, and I run it back to the last frame before it turns off. I don’t see much. Just a dark head of hair slightly out of frame.
Could be a landlord or a maintenance man. Or a neighbor.
But something in my stomach twists with an unsettling familiarity.
I can’t put my finger on why or what.
I rewind the feed, all the way back to what looks like the beginning of the day when Oliver left.
So Zulu wipes their tapes daily. Noted.
I’m just about to backtrack and disappear out of the server when I see a device listed that stands out. All the cameras share the same server, but this…
This one makes my blood chill. The title reads Master Computer Program.
And it looks like it’s got a stronger signal than the other devices listed. It could be someone’s hot-spot or someone’s bluetooth device. Hell, it could even be a home Dot or Alexa or something like that, but…
The name is all I need to know to know it’s not just some accident, some inconsequential thing.
How many people know the original villain of Tron?
How many people know it’s my favorite movie?
Three. Chickadee, Oliver and…
“Robert, you fucking asshole,” I bite. I’m tempted to click on the device, but I know that’s what he wants.
And if Robert left me this little easter egg, I know he’s watching me.
Which pisses me off more than it should. Not because he’s watching me but because the last thing I need is for him to discover Oliver.
I can’t let him sink his teeth into my little Rabbit. I won’t let that happen.
So, I click on Master Computer Program. It takes a couple seconds, but the only thing that loads is a black screen with a blinking red cursor.
I watch as the letters type out two words.
Hello, Flynn.
And then they disappear. The screen disintegrates and the device disappears. Master Computer Program is no more.
I suck in a deep breath and backtrack my steps until I’m out of the system and shut my computer.
“Fucking hell,” I growl, wanting to throw my damn computer across the room.
Anger floods me, and I have to take more than a few deep breaths to calm down.
I get out of bed and head through my dark hallway, past the playroom, past the bathroom to the stairs.
The kitchen lights are low and brighten as I approach the basement door and head down to my private lab.
The cool air kisses my skin as I head for the metal shelves that hold a variety of tech I haven’t used; most of it kept for late-night tinkering when I can’t sleep or when I get frustrated and need something to build.
It doesn’t take me too long; most of the bins are categorized, and with how much time I’ve been spending in the office, I haven’t ventured down here in months. I grab what I need from the bins—an old Nest camera, a few parts from various cameras and phones, and pull out my chair and get to work.
When I finally awaken, my back is killing me, and instantly I realize why—I’d fallen asleep in my lab chair.
I rub my eyes, noting the time displayed on the wall reads 3:53.
I groan, knowing there’s no use trying to go back to sleep, so I collect my equipment and head upstairs.
It doesn’t take me long to grab one of my tech backpacks and shove all my newly tinkered toys inside.
I take my time and shower, knowing exactly what I plan to do today.
I’m not letting Oliver out of my fucking sight.
This… this isn’t what he signed up for.
Robert Stratford can hate me as much as he wants, but I will not allow him to bring unknowing civilians into his little hacker fantasies.
The hot water sluices over my skin, and steam builds as I remember our last conversation. When I’d told him we were no longer capable of working together.
Creative differences, I’d told him. He’d told me to fuck off. That I’d come crawling back when my little glitch glitched its last breath.
And then he crashed my fucking computer and wiped my damn hard drive clean.
Years of work. Decades of work down the fucking drain. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he’d planned for it. The office had a field day with the computers crashing and the servers going haywire. Tech called it a data breach, but it was more than that.
It was a cyber hit. Thankfully, I’m not an idiot, and most of my work was backed up to Ghost, but that’s not the point.
Robert was sending me a message.
I drew my line in the sand, and Robert showed me just what he was capable of.
The only saving grace I had was Ghost and the NDA.
I told him if he ever tried to even look at a damn computer, or breathe a word of our relationship, I’d know, and I would make his life a living hell.
And if he tried to tear me down, he’d have another thing coming.
I hated making threats. But I couldn’t let him get away with thinking he could do such a thing without some form of retaliation, even if I had all my information backed up.
Which is precisely why I ghosted my way into all his financials and gave him a data breach of my own.
No one threatens me. Not like Robert, anyway.
Sometimes I wonder what we could have been if we hadn’t turned into enemies. Sometimes I wonder if I could have disciplined him better. Taught him how to use that vicious spark inside of him for good instead of selfishness.
But then I remember that Robert Stratford brought out the worst in me, and letting him go was the only way I was going to save myself from ending up a monster. The one inside me is bad enough, but I wasn’t going to let anyone change Veil and change my mission.
I shut off the water and head to my bedroom, taking my time as I dress.
I slide on my black athletic pants and longsleeve, grabbing one of my fleece lined black hoodies I usually wear when I’m lounging around the house on cold weekends.
I grab a button-down and a pair of trousers, folding them neatly.
Methodically, I go through the motions. It’s not like I haven’t thought about this day. Prepared for it.
I just didn’t think it would happen this soon, and I certainly didn’t think it would be because of someone I know. Someone I used to care about.
I wouldn’t say I loved Robert. What we had… it wasn’t healthy, and I know that. I have always liked a challenge, and that’s what Robert was. A challenge. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by his genius. But no matter how smart he is when it comes to tech, he’s got a blind spot.
Like the Master Computer Program, he lacks empathy. He doesn’t know how to give. He only knows how to take.
And I will be damned if I let him take what doesn’t belong to him.
I pack a pair of socks and shoes before latching my Stone Timeworks watch, the dark shades of grey and black glinting in the light with an almost diamond sheen.
I sling my backpack over my shoulder and make my way downstairs and make my daily breakfast smoothie.
The digital clock on the wall reads 4:30, and I let out a heavy breath as I grab my laptop and slip it into my backpack, and head for the car.
I told Oliver I’d be by at six, to collect him, but for what I want to do, I am going to need a little bit of time to myself before I see my darling assistant.
The drive to Oliver’s is quiet. Almost eerily quiet.
At this hour, there aren’t many people on the road, and for that I’m thankful.
Most of the commuters and businessmen and women are waking up, just getting ready to start their day.
I pull into the apartment complex parking lot and shut my car off.
It takes only a few seconds for me to get my laptop up and running and logged into Ghost. A few commands later, I’m into the system.
“Alright, Computer Program, you want to play. Let’s fucking play.”
I bring up Ghost Mode on my phone—another private project that no one knows about for obvious reasons. I close my laptop and hide it underneath my seat, grabbing the backpack and exiting the car.
I pull my hood over my head, keeping my head down as I saunter through the shadows.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to utilize this skillset.
Cultivating my persona as Mr. Pierce took decades, and it wasn’t only because I knew pretending to be a straight playboy would make me more palatable to the corporate puppeteers.
It was because I knew I could do more as Mr. Pierce, CEO of Veil, than I could have ever done as M4st3r_Gl1tch.
And I’d been right. I buried M4st3r_Gl1tch and out of those ashes, came the man responsible for the Veil.
I always found it somewhat ironic, that the very thing that made me a billionaire and gave me my new identity was a glitch.
But just because I derezzed my former self, doesn’t mean I have forgotten who I was or how I got here.
I carefully slip through the quiet alleys until I find the spot I need. Building A. The closest building to the server. I keep myself out of frame and pull up my phone, swiping until I find the switch I want. With one click, the camera goes off. All of them.
I set to work quickly. The tech isn’t brand new, but it’s not outdated, either.
I’ve got a fifteen-minute window to swap out the cameras and outfit them with my upgrade—a chip modified with a very unauthorized Veil upgrade and Ghost backdoor.
It’s a risk to put Ghost out there like this, but chances are the staff at Zulu won’t notice the upgrade unless they take the cameras apart.
For the most part, it’ll operate as they always have, but Veil will increase the detection capability.
Ghost will ensure no one notices anything’s been tampered with.
My hands move quickly as I unscrew the mount and prop open the bottom, quickly inserting the chip and getting it screwed back on.
After the last chip, I make my way to Oliver’s porch.
I check Ghost to make sure the cameras are still off, which they are, and then I carefully grab a small battery-sized disk, which I’d applied adhesive to last night, against the base of the porch lantern.
I take a few steps back, making sure it’s inconspicuous enough to the naked eye.
I check my watch. Five minutes left until the cameras come back on.
I sling my backpack over my shoulder and carefully sneak back to the car.
When I get there, I don’t turn it on. Instead, I grab my laptop and open up Ghost and wait.
When the cameras come on, I see everything.
Including Oliver’s door. I settle my laptop on the passenger seat as I pull out my clothes and carefully undress myself and change.
When it’s 5:40, I am just straightening my shirt, my shadowed disguise hidden in the bottom of my backpack.
I get out of the car and toss it in the trunk.
5:43.
I run a hand through my hair, taming it from my hoodie.
I carefully walk towards Oliver’s porch, glancing up at the lantern with a smirk. And then I knock on the door.