Chapter 35
35 Counterattack.
35 Counterattack
“How much longer is it gonna take?”
Troy’s fingers flew across the keyboard. He grinned excitedly.
“Almost there–95%. Just give me three more minutes. I’ll be inside the company’s system”
Ruby couldn’t hide her excitement. “Perfect! If this works, you’ll earn some serious points.”
He blushed a little.
“Ms. Randall, you’re too kind. You’ve always had my back. I’d help you anytime, no strings attached.”
She knew he was just trying to score extra points and didn’t take his flattery too seriously.
“Relax. Once the system crashes, I’ll bring in a few board members. You can give them a hard time, then patch it up.”
She wasn’t looking to wreck the company. She just wanted Alice gone.
Troy nodded eagerly.
If everything worked, Alice would be gone, and he’d walk away with shares and a new partner title.
“Ms. Randall, it’s at 99%!”
He stared at the progress bar, practically shaking with excitement.
IT department.
Chloe slammed her palm against the desk. “This hacker is too much!”
Everyone was pounding away at their keyboards, stressed out.
Alice spoke up coolly, “What’s the big deal? They’re not at 100% yet.” Chloe scoffed. “You seriously believe that last 1% is gonna stop them?”
1/5
11:19 Mon, 30. Jun – GT
35 Counterattack
If the hacker wanted to break it, it could only take seconds.
Alice stayed calm. I built this firewall. I know what it can handle.
Chloe looked disgusted. “You? Please. Just stop messing around. You’re making it worse.
The rest of the team didn’t bother hiding their frustration either.
“Things were fine before she came along.”
“We haven’t faced a hacker this advanced in
years.”
“She thought she was a genius fixing the firewall. No wonder hackers are showing up to challenge us!”
“She’s just embarrassing herself and dragging all of us down with her.”
Alice didn’t react to any of it. Instead, she chuckled.
“You all seem so impressed by this hacker. Want to see what he looks like?”
Chloe sneered. “Do you think you’ve got X–ray vision now?”
Alice smiled wider. “Not exactly. But I set up a counterattack. I can see through his webcam.”
Chloe was caught off guard and then laughed.
“No way! You-”
She stopped when her eyes locked onto the computer screen.
The progress bar, which had just touched 99%, was falling fast.
It hit 10%, then dropped to 1%.
Seconds later, it reset completely. Then, a window popped up on–screen.
“Wait, is this a video call with the hacker?”
“Looks like it’s popping up on every company device.”
“Perfect. Now we can see who this hacker is. The cops will have no problem issuing a warrant once they see this.”
2/5
Mon , BuJUN
35 Counterattack
Chloe looked completely stunned.
She didn’t even glance at the screen anymore. Her attention shifted straight to Alice.
“ You you planted a program?”
Alice casually responded, “Wasn’t that obvious?”
Chloe jumped up agitatedly. “How did you manage that?”
Alice tapped her head. “I came up with it myself.”
Chloe didn’t even know what to s
anymore.
“Hey, check it out–his webcam is on!”
“That’s strange. He looks kind of familiar.”
“Hold on, isn’t that Mr. Hayden?”
“Didn’t he already quit?”
“Maybe he’s helping us stress test the firewall?”
Over on the hacker’s side, Troy was completely focused on his screen, mumbling to himself in excitement.
“I’m this close to breaking into the database and grabbing all the company’s secrets!”
Everyone in the IT department froze.
It felt like even a single breath could blow their cover and tip Troy off
But that wasn’t the worst part.
Now the entire company–every desktop, every screen, even the massive display in the lobby -was streaming his little show.
It was Friday, almost clock-out time. Most people had wrapped things up and were free to watch the chaos unfold.
The office group chat lit up like wildfire.
The video of Troy, the ex–IT director, losing it was spreading like crazy.
3/5
35 Counterattack
Within seconds, the entire Nolan Group–even the cleaning staff who barely touched their phones–knew there was a traitor in the IT department.
Troy’s name was suddenly on everyone’s lips.
At first, some figured it was some kind of weird security test. But that thought didn’t last long. Troy got fired and snapped, and now he was trying to wreck the company.
“Wait a sec, is that our company’s decor behind him? ”
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