👉 Previous Action: You feigned obedience and secured a promotion, gaining higher clearance and catching the attention of ethical compliance auditor Marcus Lindqvist.
The next morning, Kien found a discreet message in his secure internal inbox, an anonymous flag on a specific archived network log. It was from Marcus Lindqvist. The message contained a single line: “Meet me at the Level 7 server junction after hours. 20:00.”
Kien’s heart pounded with a mix of apprehension and adrenaline. Lindqvist had taken the bait.
He arrived promptly at 20:00, the server junction a maze of humming racks and blinking lights. Marcus Lindqvist was already there, a serious expression etched on his face. He held a tablet, its screen displaying the fragmented log Kien had intentionally exposed.
“This access log,” Lindqvist began, his voice low, almost a whisper above the server hum. “It shows an internal executive account attempting to bypass audit trails for Project Chiron’s core neural algorithms. Specifically, yours.”
Kien nodded, his gaze steady. “My wife, Evelyn Brooks-Doan. She’s behind the memory severance. She’s harvesting my work, day by day.”
Lindqvist’s eyes widened, a flicker of shock crossing his usually impassive face. He adjusted his glasses, a slow, deliberate movement. “Memory severance is for security, to protect the IP. This suggests… systematic exploitation.”
“It is,” Kien confirmed. “She arranged my contract after my bankruptcy. Legal guardianship over my workplace memory rights is buried in the fine print. She knew I’d never remember.”
Lindqvist leaned against a server rack, running a hand through his thinning hair. “I’ve been tracking anomalies for months, Kien. Inconsistent data flows, unauthorized network calls from executive accounts. I flagged Project Chiron, but the trails went cold, encrypted. This log… it confirms my suspicions.” He looked at Kien, a newfound resolve in his eyes. “This is not just corporate malpractice. This is outright criminal.”
“The full evidence,” Kien explained, “is in raw text messaging logs, stored on an air-gapped server. It bypasses the company’s main network, so they thought it safe. I have coordinates from a hidden message my workplace self left me.”
Lindqvist nodded slowly. “An air-gapped server… that complicates things. We’ll need a physical bypass, a way to extract the data without triggering an alarm. It’s risky. But,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose, “my conscience dictates that we proceed.”
He extended a hand. “I’m with you, Kien. Let’s expose this.”
Kien grasped his hand firmly. An unlikely alliance formed amidst the humming servers, a pact to bring down a powerful corporation and expose a chilling betrayal.
➡️ Read CHAPTER 11 to continue the story
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