While compiling a report, Neville noticed an ID access card next to the logistics man. He picked it up and read.
Marcus Chen, Logistics Supervisor, Level 3.
So that was his name. How anticlimactic. Neville commented. He's nothing special either. What is he yapping about?
"He said there wouldn't be a trace." Marcus repeatedly said to himself, still in disbelief.
Using Marcus's access card, Neville began to trace data in the logistics department. The trail led to a series of off-galaxy accounts, most of which were bouncing between the five planets of the Imperial Star system.
Whoever was behind this had resources, connections, and a vested interest in Maxwell Corporation's shipping routes.
If it was already like this in the logistics department, what more of the others? Neville thought as he recalled the faces of the people surrounding Ethan.
A soft chime was heard, and Bryan's footsteps rang in the hallways. He had other people with him, too.
Neville casually checked the time. Bryan was really early, even for him. Sending my invisible respect for the deserving.
When Bryan walked into the secretarial department, he immediately observed the surroundings. Unlike when Neville entered, most of the lights were already lit up.
Bryan's eyes took a moment to take in—Marcus tied to a chair like a gift-wrapped criminal, Neville calmly organizing holographic data streams—the mess of an office, and continued to walk towards Neville.
Neville was fully concentrated on his desk work and didn't notice Bryan had come. But someone did notice him.
"Mr. Stewart!" Marcus's voice cracked with desperation. "This isn't—I can explain—he attacked me!"
Bryan's eyebrow raised, "Hm?"
"In my defense," Neville casually said, gesturing blindly at where Marcus was without looking over, "he started it."
"You tied him up real good," Bryan commented, examining the rope work with professional interest. "Better not tie him up too tightly."
Neville thought it sounded weird but shrugged it off. "I'll remember that for next time."
"Let's hope there isn't a next time." Bryan's fingers danced over his Light Brain. "Though I must say, your timing is amazing. I was just thinking this morning was too quiet."
Neville secretly felt cold sweat dripping down his spine and pretended to be calm as he handed something to Bryan without moving his eyes away from the screen.
It was a memory chip and an access card.
"Everything's there. Files, screen recordings, security cam footage. Even found a little virus hitchhiking on the download. Seems familiar?" Neville said.
Bryan's eyes narrowed as he plugged the chip into his Light Brain, scanning through the data with lightning speed.
"Same MO as the last breach, just a different department. Interesting." Bryan continued. "I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that you're still investigating secretly without filing a single report."
Neville's mouth opened and closed like a fish. I thought I just needed to send a report if it's solid evidence, not that he needed to report every single thing to them!
"Oh, don't look so surprised." Bryan stood, brushing imaginary dust on the chair, and rolled over next to Neville.
"Did you really think you were the only one who noticed? Though I admit, I expected you to go through proper channels rather than..." he gestured at the crime scene, "this."
"Proper channels seem to have been compromised already," Neville said defensively, denying that he made this mess of an office. "But we can infer from this data trail that it might also be the same for multiple other departments."
"Hmm." Bryan's expression shifted. "Show me then."
For the next ten minutes, Neville walked Bryan through his other findings, ignoring Marcus's howling. Even though some assumptions hadn't been connected right now, if given access, they might be able to see the bigger picture and the scale of this operation.
"I see." Bryan simply said.
'I see? I see? What else can't you see? All I can get is I see?' Neville almost lost his mind, but only in his thoughts.
Then he remembered something and showed the unknown item to Bryan. "There was something that he was going to pull out earlier. I thought it was a weapon, but I guess it wasn't, and the fight broke out."
"What is it?" Bryan asked while taking the item. After observing it, his eyes widened. "A neural disruptor?"
"A what?" Neville couldn't comprehend what that was since Shelly refused to explain, whining endlessly.
"Neural disruptor. An illegal weapon that can blow up the light brains and other chips installed in one's body. It was banned because everyone now had one or two chips installed inside their body. If someone used the neural disruptor, the chips inside those people within 100meters around the neural disruptor will explode." Bryan explained gravely.
"This F—!" Neville cursed out loud, rushing towards Marcus with a limp leg.
Bryan was half a beat slower as Neville already hit Marcus on the face.
"If you're going to kill me, you might as well stab me, just me! What are you doing, bombing other people's brains out!" Neville lashed out.
Even Bryan was surprised at Neville's actions, but it was understandable. He could only stop Neville from hitting the other person any further since it was detrimental to his case.
"Mr. Stewart, please, I can explain—" Marcus ignored Neville and hurriedly shouted, his voice rising in panic.
But Bryan silenced him with a look, his gaze as cold and sharp as a blade. "I think we have everything we need in that chip. Let's just continue this conversation somewhere a bit more private."
Two guards in Maxwell Corp's distinctive black uniforms received Bryan's signal and efficiently untied Marcus from the emergency alarm pull-up bar while keeping him secured to the chair.
As they wheeled him towards the exit, he twisted to glare at Neville with pure hatred. "This isn't over! You pest! You think you're safe? You have no idea what's coming!"
Seriously? Neville, tired of all those fights, snorted. He returned to his workstation, ignoring the noises in the hallway.
Neville began to plan his next steps. First, he would need to run a full security sweep, change all his passwords, and probably relocate again—
"Mr. Hope." He approached Neville with measured steps, his hand reaching out to touch the younger man's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Neville replied weakly as he struggled to walk with his limp feet.
Bryan looked him up and down, "We'd better get you to the hospital."
"I said I'm fine." Neville stubbornly said.
"I see." Bryan opened his Light Brain again and continued, "I'm contacting Mr. Maxwell directly. He'll want to—"
"No!" The word burst out before Neville could stop it.
At Bryan's raised eyebrow, Neville was visibly flustered. "I mean, it's too early in the morning. He needs a good rest. Can't this wait? Just a little rest will do."
Bryan's smile returned, and he teased. "Concerned about Mr. Maxwell's beauty sleep? How thoughtful of you."
"That's not—I'm not—" Neville sputtered, face burning. "I just don't want to ruin his daily routine!"
"Of course it won't," Bryan said it so naturally, which somehow made it worse. "Though I should point out that Mr. Maxwell specifically instructed me to contact him immediately if anything important happened, especially if it's about you."
Neville's brain short-circuited. "He... what?"
"Oh yes. Ve~ry specific instructions. 'If Hope gets into any trouble, I want you to inform me immediately.' He emphasized it quite a bit." Neville couldn't make heads or tails of whether Bryan was actually telling the truth or not. But for some reason, he wanted to believe that Grayson actually said that.
[Host! Does this mean your target actually cares about you?] Shelly squealed in his mind, hearts practically floating around her avatar.
'Shut up, Shelly,' Neville retorted, trying to process this information rationally. Why would Grayson give such instructions? Was he that suspicious of him? Did he know about the investigation? What else did he say, though?
"Though," Bryan continued, tilting his head thoughtfully.
"I suppose I could delay the report until a more reasonable hour. Say, 6 AM? That would give you time to..." he glanced at Neville's messy appearance and inconspicuous injured leg, "make yourself presentable."
"Thank you," Neville said with utter gratefulness.
The last thing he needed was Grayson seeing him like this—hair a mess, clothes torn, sort of bloodied and bruised up. He was probably reeking of sweat and violence.
A few seconds after, personnel came up and went inside in batches. It seemed that Bryan called up some people to clean up and replace some things. Bryan took the neural disruptor with him and began to command the people who came.
After a few minutes of being completely ignored in some corner, Bryan looked at him and said, "Go home and rest. Remember to heal your wounds before turning up mid-day today."
"Can't I just rest for the whole day?" Neville cheekily replied.
"I would if I could, but I do have plenty of questions, and someone would definitely have some too." Bryan replied blankly, "We also need further documentation of what happened for the authorities and the legal team."
Neville felt that he should've just slipped away when he had the chance and didn't say anything more. Now, he felt like he was trapped in an uncomfortable situation that he had dug himself into.
[Host, your stress levels just spiked to 47%, (◕‿◕)] Shelly commented.
'SHELLY'
...
Down in the entrance of the Maxwell Corporation Headquarters, Marcus continued to struggle and stall, making it hard for the security personnel to drag him away without people noticing him.
Along the hallway, a small bottle with seemingly clear water inside rolled across the floor. It had fallen from Marcus's pocket during his struggle and bounced around a couple of times.
In the end, it stopped in a dramatically slow motion in someone's shoes. That person bent down to pick it up. That person's elegant fingers hid the bottle away from everyone's eyes and slipped it into a pocket in the jacket.
That person walked away casually, like nothing happened, with a mysterious smile.