by Cage, Zion
Adrik barely managed to restrain himself from reaching out over the table and grabbing Harris by the collar. Maintaining his calm composure, he asked, “But how is it possible that we have the virus and not the antivirus? In fact, how is it possible that we didn’t have the antivirus installed on our computer before this attack?”
“It was an oversight, sir,” Harris said, and his voice quivered. “We requested only the virus as we felt there was no need for the antivirus. We weren’t expecting this attack from anywhere. I’m sorry, sir.”
Adrik thought for a while. It was an oversight, and, really, no one would have expected what had happened.
Who could have done this? He thought.
“When was this virus uploaded to the system? Gather all the staff on duty in that period for questioning,” he said.
“We have a problem with that: we don’t know when the upload was done. There was no uploading done within the past two days. We used the secondary computers to check the hard drive where the video footage of the main computer room was stored. No one was doing anything suspicious then. It means that the upload was done before the EMP. We don’t know what date to look into. However, what I can say is that whoever did this was smart enough to install it at such a moment. Trying to interrupt the installation by cutting off power supply will render our hard drive useless. We’ll all be trapped here,” Harris said.
“That’s true,” Adrik said, deep in thought. “How many people had access to that software after it arrived in the US?”
“Just a handful: it came to me then we sent it by a mercenary to Viv-” he paused, knowing that Adrik and Vivien had been lovers. He feared that hearing her name would make Adrik angry. She had died mysteriously after the EMP, and so she couldn’t be a suspect. Adrik rolled his eyes.
“I know. Vivien had access to it too. Who else?” he said.
Harris watched Adrik’s eyes. It was as though he weren’t bothered by Vivien’s death in the least. Well, Adrik always seemed cool irrespective of how he felt. Harris cleared his throat and continued.
“There was the agent that assisted her at the white house, but the lady is out reaping now. Some guys here had access to it, but there’s just a handful of them.”
Adrik banged the table with his fist.
“Well, get them for questioning, will you? One of them must know something. Find out who is responsible for this before the end of today. All our operations are on hold because of your negligence. Get to work, now!” he said.
Harris got up slowly.
“Yes, I will get to it,” he said as he left the office.
The other two people sat in silence. Adrik thought about all that had happened. He wondered how it had been possible for Vivien to have been killed barely a day into the final lap of the mission?
And the most important question: why had she gone out despite his instructions?
He had forbidden her to go with the other agents. She had said that she wanted to lead the other agents by example and go with them on their mission, but he had maintained his stand and had instructed her to move to New York. If she hadn’t disobeyed, she would still be alive. She had become more self-willed over the past months, going where she wasn’t supposed to go.
It brought up a new question: was Vivien really dead?
Viktor, one of the members of the governing body, spoke.
“You know this means that we’ve been compromised, right?”
“I do,” Adrik said, not wanting to talk.
“What are we going to do about it, then?” Viktor asked.
“We’ll wait for the systems to come back on. When they do, we’ll report back to Russia and see what plans we can come up with,” Adrik said. He looked at the other council member to see if there was any question from her.
It was Khristina, and she was smiling in silence. She didn’t have any questions.
Adrik was sure she was pleased with Vivien’s death. He bowed his head, deep in thought.
He had already begun to make plans of vengeance on whoever had done this. The person would wish to have not been born.
Chapter Three
"I repeat for emphasis: kill on sight…"
17th November 2021
5:10 am
Ray of Hope HQ, Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
No. she can’t be dead!
Adrik couldn’t believe that Vivien was dead. She had been trained by many experts, including himself. It was almost impossible for her to be bested in combat.
The main computer had finally been restored the night before. Immediately, they had contacted their specialists in Russia to send them the antivirus. Unfortunately, the antivirus was only a preventive measure. Once the virus was installed, nothing more could be done. The main hard drive had to be replaced, and all the files on it had to be transferred to the new hard drive except the virus- that was the tricky part since the virus couldn’t be detected. One of the technicians had to come to America with the hard drive and handle the transfer. That would take days. Till then, whoever had access to their information store would keep getting their correspondence. There was no way around it. They couldn’t stop communicating with their units.
If Vivien had been killed, the killer would probably have a link with the person who had done this. And if she hadn’t been killed… He shrugged the thought off. He didn’t want to imagine that Vivien was capable of such. She was too attached to him to do so.
He walked out of his office and headed to the information center.
“Young man, send an instruction to the reapers at Maine. Tell them to head to where Suzanne was reported dead and to find her body. They are to gather as many clues as they can find and report to us. Get back to me immediately they send anything in,” he said.
Mikolas, who was on duty at the information center, had been sleeping when Adrik came in. he jumped up and nodded.
“Yes, sir. I’ll do just that,” he said drowsily as Adrik walked out of the room.
Mikolas’ assistant chuckled as he watched the scene unfold. Mikolas turned and slapped his shoulder.
“Stop laughing and tell me what he said, will you?” he said grumpily.
17th November 2021
7:22 am
Old Port, Portland, Maine.
USA.
Suzanne woke up to the sound of her tab beeping. She had been having nightmares, and so she woke up with a headache. She pulled her phone to herself and turned it on, squinting as the light entered her eyes. The installation had completed during the night. She was glad that it hadn’t been interrupted. Two alerts had come in. She opened the first one.
When she read the contents, she gasped, and tears slipped out of her eyes. Daan was dead. She allowed herself to cry. Somehow, the tears made her feel human again. She had hoped Daan would join her on her mission. Unfortunately, his loyalty had been to his family in Russia. Now, he was never going to see them again.
After crying for some minutes, she wiped her tears and returned to the tab. The organization had left instruction for all agents around Chicago: they were to retrieve Daan’s device from an unknown person. The person had found the device around North Orchard and had turned it on. The organization didn’t want any loose ends.
Suzanne bowed her head. More killings- that was what the Ray of Hope lived for. She was about to go back to sleep when an idea came to her.
She had planned to find a way to get all the activities of the Ray of Hope to the United Nations. So far, she knew of only one computer in the whole of America that was capable of such transmission and would still be functional: the main computer of the Ray of Hope. It was located at a secret facility in New York. The Ray of Hope had been smart enough to build their devices and vehicles with advanced vacuum tube technology so that they couldn’t be affected by an EMP.
She looked at her slim tab and wondered how they had managed to fit a vacuum tube in it. Their technology always amazed her.
While other devices lik
e the tablets handed out to the agents and the computers at all the delivery units were only able to correspond with the main computer and each other, the main computer was able to transmit to other countries. It was how they kept in touch with Russia.
So far, she had achieved the first goal: to get access to the main computer. However, she needed people who could help her. The plan was too big for one person to accomplish. Whoever had been able to turn on Daan’s device probably knew something. If the person had been the one to kill Daan, the person would have the skills to help her.
She ran her hand through her hair. It was a wild card. All her thoughts were just guesses and were probably not correct; however, leaving was better than remaining in Maine. Along the way, she was likely to meet other people who would help her.
She opened the next notification. As she read through the contents, she felt her blood freeze over. The organization had issued instructions to the agents in Maine to find her corpse at that building. The instruction had come in only two hours ago. She looked through the window. The sun had risen well enough to be spotted easily. She couldn’t remain there.
She got up quickly and packed her bag. Rushing outside, she got on her motorcycle and looked around. There was no one around. No one had seen her. She joined the two wires from the ignition of the motorcycle, and the engine roared to life. Getting the bike in gear, she drove off. Chicago was her destination.
As she drove, she began to think about the facility where the main computer was. She knew how difficult it would be to get in. She had been there before; Just some days ago…
13th November 2021
3:10 pm
Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
Vivien sat at the bus stop waiting for her ride. Everywhere was cold, making her wish she had worn a lot more.
She forced her attention back to the road. Since the election had been successful, and Alexei had become the new president of America, it was time to move to the next phase of the plan. Harris Bidden was going to be taking her to the headquarters of the organization in America. After he had served as the special adviser to the president on legislative issues, the Ray of Hope had faked his death and that of his family so that he could be in charge of the headquarters. She had never been there before, but she had managed to convince him to let her go when he disclosed to her that he had to be part of a secret meeting with stakeholders from around the world. After Adrik had left in haste for Russia the previous day, she had suspected something important was happening, so she had called Harris and asked what the next phase was. He’d trusted her too much to keep secrets from her. She had taken a flight to New York that day. She couldn’t miss the meeting as it was her only chance to further her plans.
She questioned herself again. Could she accomplish it? Somehow, it felt better for her to just go along with the flow. She couldn’t fight the organization’s ten years old plan with a plan she had fashioned just two weeks ago. She was weak. She’d never win.
She hugged herself as the cold seeped through her clothing to get to her skin. When she returned her gaze to the street, she saw a man walking towards her in the distance. She frowned. Why was he walking alone in the cold? She turned her attention from him and continued to think over her plans. The man came close enough and sat at the far end of the bench. She raised a brow, uncomfortable with his presence. He looked like a hobo.
“I’m very sorry, ma’am. I’m just tired. ‘Been walking for a long while now,” he said as he swung his head to the sides. “Let me rest a bit, please.”
Vivien nodded. The bench was public property, so he didn’t need her permission. One thing bothered her, though.
“Where did you come from? Don’t they have cabs there?”
The man chuckled.
“You know, sometimes, you get on a journey, and you don’t realize it’s farther than it looks. Later on, though, you realize yourself, but you’ve gone too far. Turning back seems impossible; however, you just have to go back if you’re going to get home. That’s why I’m here now. It’s tempting to sleep here, but I’m going to continue till I get home,” the man said, nodding his head with vigor.
Vivien looked out to the road. There were no houses as far as her eyes could see. She wondered where the man lived. That same second, she realized how the man's statement seemed to line up with her life. She frowned.
“What do you mean, sir?” she asked.
“I’m sure you understand,” the man said, standing up. “I need to go home now. I think you should too. This place is too cold.” With that, he walked away.
Vivien kept watching him as he got further away.
Go home. This place is too cold…
A car honked, causing her to jerk in her seat. She turned to see a black car. The glass went down to reveal Harris’ face. The smile she remembered was still there. She returned it.
“Harris,” she said as she got into the car. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. It’s been a while.”
“I know. We’ve both been really busy for a great cause,” he said as he started the engine and drove off. They kept talking. As they passed the strange man, Vivien looked at him. He’d given her the encouragement she needed.
Soon they got to the facility. Above the ground, it looked like a restaurant. Harris and Suzanne got out of the car and went in. Harris led her through the dining area until they arrived in the kitchen. He spoke in Russian to the cooks, greeting them, and they replied. One of the cooks took out a key and opened a door marked, ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. Vivien and Harris went in. Some supplies were stacked there. Harris led her to the back wall. Reaching behind the bags of grain stacked, he pressed a button, and the wall partitioned to reveal an elevator. They went in and they were taken downwards. When Vivien stepped out of the elevator, she was impressed by the activity there. Agents sat before computers, managing information between Russia and America. None of the computers there concerned her. She needed to find the main one. Security men searched her and her bag to ensure she hadn’t come with any illegal material. She had nothing except for her phone. Her bag was also returned to her after no incriminating material was found in it. Harris had an agent lead her to her room. Every agent there revered her. She was known as the High Priestess, the one that made a way. She laughed to herself.
While in her room, she was unable to sleep. She knew the meeting would commence by midnight. She had to have accomplished her plan before then.
By 8 pm, she left her room and went to find Harris. She found him standing in front of a large computer with his team. They were preparing for the meeting. She placed a palm on his shoulder as she came to stand by him.
“Busy, eh?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Yes. The governing body set up this meeting with everyone who had supported our causes over the years. We want to wrap things up. This meeting can’t go wrong,” he said, and she nodded.
She looked at the CCTV camera in the room.
“I’m impressed by the security here. I noticed a camera in my room too. Does every where here have cameras?” she asked.
“Yes. But they’re all down now because of what we’re trying to set up. The feed transmitter software is what we use for the cameras, and we’re upgrading it to host more users. It should be back up once we’re done,” he said.
“Oh. That’s great,” Vivien said as she smiled. Inside, she was glad that part of her work was being done for her. She had been thinking of what she’d do to get the people in the watch room out for a while. She didn’t need that anymore.
“Hey, I need to use the restroom, please,” she said abruptly. Harris gave her directions. Just as she turned to leave, he called to her.
“Adrik is angry that you are here. He says you both will thrash it out when he returns to New York and that you’ll be in charge of giving the final address to the reapers tomorrow, so you should be prepared to leave for Washington as soon as it’s dawn.”
Vivien ro
lled her eyes.
“You’d think he’d respect me enough to let me do what I want, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, it isn’t so,” she said and left. When she was out of sight, she began to look for the room where the CPU was. She knew access would be restricted. She began to think of how to get through.
She arrived at a door.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. DO NOT ENTER!!!
The words were written boldly in red. The door required special key cards. She was willing to bet that less than five people in the whole base had a card. That had to be the room she was looking for. She found a corner and watched. Soon enough, a young man walked to the door, opened it, and went in. She smiled. The restroom wasn’t far from the door. She went to wait for him in front of the restroom. The man walked out some minutes later. Vivien walked out of the restroom as though she had just used it. She bumped into the man.
“I’m so sorry,” she said in Russian as she put her hand to her forehead.
“It’s all my fault, high priestess,” the man said. “I apologize. I should have been more careful.”
“Oh, it’s okay. I see you’re busy,” she said, and she glanced at the man’s pockets.
“Oh, yes. There’s a lot to do tonight. The server for the meeting needs to be secured. That’s what we’re working on now.”
Vivien nodded.
“Great. Well done, brother,” she said as she hugged him. “Russia owes you a great debt. Thank you for sacrificing your life for this cause.” She was shorter than him, so her arms went under his arms.
Mikolas was surprised by her gesture. Her humility and warmness wasn’t something he easily saw among the other superiors. She ended the hug and nodded for him to leave.
“I learn from role models like you, high priestess,” he said as he nodded and left.
Vivien followed behind, though she walked at a slower pace. When he was far enough, she turned and walked back briskly, twirling the card in her fingers. Once she got to the door, she paused and said a prayer.