The Prototype

1. The Massacre of Zyus

TEMPEST

The window coated in a thin film of ice, each breath of Washington D.C.'s winter pressing against the glass in silent defiance. Snow blanketed the street below—thick, cold, and undisturbed. The city moved beneath it anyway, crawling toward midnight with fireworks on standby and champagne chilling for the countdown. But I wasn't watching for the celebration. I wasn't here for noise or lights. I stood inside the headquarters of Zyus, the most powerful defense contractor and industrial corporation in the country, waiting for the world to meet the system I'd spent two years building in secret.

Zyus wasn't just another tech company. They built weapons, aircraft, covert surveillance tools, and machines designed to do more than kill. They were in bed with governments, feeding military intelligence and national security projects across every hemisphere. Commercial markets bowed to them. Black market players feared them. Its cutting-edge products and solutions are designed to meet the needs of customers across a wide range of industries and sectors, making it a trusted partner for organizations around the world. When Zyus wanted control, they didn't negotiate—they embedded themselves in the system and rewired it from the inside.

They wanted me because I could do what no one else could. After earning my master's from Cornell in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and a hard focus in computer Forensics and Cybersecurity, they made it clear I wasn't just another recruit—they needed a weapon. I graduated top of my class, packed up my life, and moved to D.C. to work for the kind of company that didn't ask questions as long as you delivered.

My first assignment wasn't just a project—it was a classified directive. Build a system capable of infiltrating global markets without detection. Make it mobile. Make it unstoppable. I developed a multi-layered software that operated through a flash drive embedded with proprietary protocols and high-level encryption. Once activated, it could override any network, pull data in real time, and disable internal defenses without triggering alerts. Zyus wanted access to everything—competitors, blacklisted countries, corporate networks, even foreign governments. They wanted the power to upgrade their own systems in the process, staying one step ahead of every enemy, every ally, every surveillance agency dumb enough to think they weren't already compromised.

Their goal was domination, not just protection. They didn't want to guard secrets—they wanted to collect everyone else's. That meant crushing the firewall between legality and power, and building something that made them untouchable. I gave them exactly that. A fully integrated system that could rewire the entire tech market, hijack the supply chain, and burn through cybersecurity protocols like they were made of tissue. And with the government right behind them, it was all approved.

And If that's what the government wants then that's what the government gets.

I've done shit way worse than this—and not a damn bit of it was legal. The only difference now is I've got federal contracts backing me. I'm protected. Covered. No fingerprints, no prison time. They can paint it as national defense, call it innovation, stamp it as classified. But I know exactly what it is.

And I built it anyway.

"Sweetheart, the grand reveal's starting soon. You should come take your seat," Phillip said, his hands pressing against my shoulders.

The contact broke whatever haze I'd been in, but not enough to fully pull me out of it. I turned toward him, letting a slight smirk pull at my mouth. "That is what I was waiting on, I really do not want or care to be generous and friendly to everyone in that room, I honestly would love to keep myself anonymous if you ask me." I admit to him which was true.

Having my name stamped on this system, being the face of it, meant dealing with a storm of contracts, speaking requests, and reporters clawing for an interview. Everyone would want a piece of me—my background, my process, the details of how I pulled off what no one else could. But that wasn't happening. My file's locked so deep under federal clearance no one could even see what college I went to unless they have the right clearance. And I planned to keep it that way. I don't give a damn if the company would love to parade me around as their star. I wasn't about to stand in front of a podium and let the world dig into what I've done and who the hell I used to be.