Glitch in the God Complex (AmpCore #1)

33 - Not the Bad Guys (At Least Not This Time)

extract_8001_messagelog-hardcache200009

networkIdent:[ACCESS DENIED]

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – This is not what we talked about. What in the hell is happening over there? I was told we had re-established full security protocols! One of your fucking pets almost killed me!

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – We've had a malware assault – critical asset containment breach from the main armoury. Phalanxes 1 through 3 secured. 5 through 6 liquidated. 7 through 9 unaccounted for. 10 through 15 secured.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – Who could even do something like that?

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – We suspect there are elements working against us within AmpCore hierarchy, trying to expose us to further their own standing. Only corporate elements could attempt something on this scale.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – Jesus. When were you going to tell me this?

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – Until now it was only a suspicion.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – The suspicion nearly got a troop of AmpCore agents murdered. You people need to get a grip on this before our sponsors start asking questions.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – And the asset?

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – Your precious asset is intact, don't worry. How long depends on you. No more escapes; no more 'breaches', understand? Or I'm done.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – Don't make threats. We will secure the situation. In the meantime, continue your assignment.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – The malware – any suspects?

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – We suspect a combination, but Code & Vector and Skiltron are most likely candidates given their specialisations. We have counter elements tracing the source of the hack, but keep your eyes open.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – I will, but we don't have a lot of time.

SenderID || [ACCESS DENIED] – Our backers are already working towards an accelerated timeline. Just do your job. We'll be in touch soon.

extract_terminated

*

Piper didn't want to go back.

She yearned to go racing out into the city, wraiths be damned, to find Arden, find Kirk, find her mother and finally get some answers.

A couple of loner wraiths on the docks had been bad enough, but seeing a full pack of them out there, feeling the accusation in those broken, bleeding minds, was something altogether different. Piper didn't want to let them in. She didn't want to know what a bunch of dead machines wanted with her. She just wanted it to stop.

There wouldn't be much chance of that if she couldn't figure out what they were after in the first place. Odiye wasn't taking no for an answer this time, though. She could see the fight had shaken him. Seeing so many of the machines that were supposed to be dead tearing apart the corporate district had dented his world badly.

Silver linings, she thought grimly as she watched the response team from AmpCore sifting through the wreckage of the battle. Black clad guards with their long rifles patrolled in front of shining corporate cordons, laconic loudspeakers warning bystanders to keep their distance at risk of hefty fines from the corporate legal teams. Within the perimeter technicians and AmpCore agents moved, data pads blinking, amplifiers glowing softly.