GDI Tower, Sub-level B3 - 6:24 AM
Nicholas's fingers flew across the holographic interface as GDI's most secure protocols activated around him. The room hummed with quantum processors spinning up, their cooling systems creating an almost musical harmony in the darkness.
"Administrator access confirmed. Initializing Project Lazarus."
The screens around him flickered to life, displaying data streams that Lizzy had never known existed. She had no idea about the shadow infrastructure.
"Scanning for anomalous transaction patterns," the AI announced in its neutral tone. "Cross-referencing with behavioral baseline algorithms."
Nicholas smiled grimly as the data populated. The real GDI lived in the spaces between the visible network nodes, in quantum-encrypted partitions that appeared as background noise to conventional scanning. Nicholas had spent three years orchestrating its design after Clearwater's first infiltration attempt — envisioning every protocol, every safeguard — while Isabella wrote the code that made it real.
"Analysis complete. Unauthorized transfers detected. Total value: 847 million CNY. Destination accounts: Singapore National Bank, Cayman Islands Private Holdings, Clearwater Industries Acquisition Fund."
"Execute Protocol Seven," Nicholas commanded.
The system paused. "Protocol Seven will trigger immediate asset freezes across all identified accounts. This action cannot be reversed. Confirm authorization?"
Nicholas looked at the synthetic Rex lying motionless in the corridor, its LED still blinking red. "Confirmed. Execute immediately."
Singapore, Marina Bay Sands - 6:27 AM
Rex was pouring champagne when his secure phone exploded with alerts. Emergency notifications cascaded across the screen faster than he could read them.
ACCOUNT FROZEN - SINGAPORE NATIONAL BANK ACCOUNT FROZEN - CAYMAN ISLANDS TRUST ACCOUNT FROZEN - CLEARWATER ACQUISITION FUND REGULATORY HOLD - MONETARY AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE REGULATORY HOLD - CAYMAN ISLANDS MONETARY AUTHORITY
"What the hell?" Rex grabbed his laptop, his fingers trembling as he accessed their financial networks. Every account showed the same status:
FROZEN - ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION.
The champagne glass slipped from his hand as if time froze, crystal shattering against marble—a sound that would echo in his nightmares for years to come.
Desperation flashed across Rex's face as he frantically pulled up his emergency protocols. His fingers flew across multiple interfaces, attempting to purge their digital footprints, delete communication logs, and activate dead-man switches that should have protected their operation.
ACCESS DENIED - QUANTUM ENCRYPTION ACTIVE
ACCESS DENIED - ADMINISTRATIVE OVERRIDE
ACCESS DENIED - EVIDENCE LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT
"Someone's locked us out," Rex whispered in disbelief. "Every failsafe, every backup protocol..."
Lizzy looked up from her tablet, her face pale. "My family accounts—they're locked too. Emergency judicial freeze. How is that possible?"
Rex's phone rang. Clearwater.
"Rex." The voice was ice-cold. "What did you do?"
"Nothing! We followed the plan exactly—"
"Every single transfer has been flagged as proceeds of criminal conspiracy. The authorities have frozen not just your payments, but our entire acquisition pipeline. Do you understand what you've cost us?"
Rex felt the blood drain from his face. "That's impossible. Our routing protocols were—"
"Your routing protocols led straight back to us. Whatever systems you thought you understood, you were wrong." The voice paused. "Consider your contract terminated. If we see any evidence linking back to Clearwater, we'll make sure you spend the rest of your lives in a Singapore prison."
The line went dead.
Lizzy stared at her frozen accounts, her champagne forgotten. "Eight hundred forty-seven million dollars. Gone."
"Not gone," Rex said desperately. "Frozen. We can appeal, we can—"
"With what lawyers? What money?" Lizzy's voice cracked. "My family's accounts are under investigation."
Rex's laptop chimed with an incoming message, which read: Enjoying Singapore? - N
Rex stared at the message, his hands shaking. "He's alive."
Then a new message showed:
Your synthetic is offline. I have something that belongs to you.
Attached was a photo: the synthetic Rex lying deactivated in the GDI corridor, a micro-interface card visible in Nicholas's hand.
Rex showed Lizzy the image. Her face went white.
"He has access to everything," she whispered. "The synthetic's memory banks, our communications, our—"
"Our location," Rex finished grimly.
Lizzy was already moving, throwing clothes into her designer luggage. "I need to get out of Singapore. Now. I have a trust fund that makes our stolen millions look like pocket change. But the family lawyers will handle any legal complications. This was just... expensive entertainment."
Rex looked up at her, something cold shifting in his eyes. "Just entertainment?"
"What else would you call it? A game that got out of hand." Lizzy began gathering her things with casual efficiency. "I'll catch the next flight back to London."
Rex grabbed her wrist, feeling as if the Lizzy before him was a stranger, utterly devoid of sympathy for his predicament. "And me?"
"I run. You..." Lizzy shrugged, pulling free of his grip. "You're my assistant. This was your operation to plan, your systems to secure. Your failure."
Rex stared at her, feeling the foundation of their partnership crumble beneath him. "You're abandoning me."
"I'm cutting my losses. Like any smart investor." Lizzy paused at the door, her voice softening for just a moment, perhaps remembering something genuine between them. "Find your way out, Rex. You're brilliant enough to survive this. Just not with me."
GDI Tower, Sub-level B3 - 6:38 AM
Nicholas pulled out his secure phone and dialed Olivia's emergency line. She answered on the first ring.
"Nicholas? Thank God you're alive. Security lost you on the cameras hours ago—"
"Listen carefully," Nicholas interrupted. "Someone in our group has been working for Clearwater Industries. They deployed a synthetic duplicate of Rex into our data center. It's been extracting classified information all night."
Silence on the line. Then: "A synthetic? That's impossible. Rex was in—"
"Rex was never in the building tonight. He's in Singapore with Lizzy, celebrating what they thought was our destruction." Nicholas looked at the motionless synthetic in the corridor. "I need you to quietly evacuate floors B1 through B3. Tell security it's a gas leak inspection. Don't let anyone near the data center."
"Jesus Christ, Nicholas. How long has this been going on?"
"Months. Maybe years. But they made one mistake—they underestimated our hidden security protocols." Nicholas felt a grim satisfaction as he watched the financial data streams. "I've frozen all their assets and triggered regulatory investigations. Clearwater's entire operation is compromised."
Olivia's voice was tight with controlled panic. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get our crisis management team ready. In two hours, we're going public with this. Frame it as GDI successfully detecting and neutralizing a sophisticated corporate espionage attack." Nicholas accessed the AI's status reports. "Our stock price is already recovering as word spreads about our 'revolutionary security measures.' We'll spin this whole thing as proof that our systems are truly unbreachable."
"And Rex? The synthetic?"
"The synthetic is powered down—its battery died mid-hunt. As for the real Rex..." Nicholas smiled coldly. "He's about to discover what it feels like to be completely cut off from resources in a foreign country."
His phone buzzed with a message from GDI's head of legal: Emergency board meeting called for today at 2 PM London time. The Grant family lawyers are demanding that Lizzy have access to frozen assets. They're claiming she was coerced.
Nicholas smiled grimly. Of course, Lizzy would try to spin this. But now he had something they didn't expect—concrete evidence of her betrayal.
"Nicholas," Olivia's voice came through the speaker, "How did you manage to freeze their accounts so quickly?"
"Three years of preparation, Olivia. After Clearwater's first attempt, Isabella and I established secure communication channels with financial authorities in Singapore and the Cayman Islands. Data-sharing agreements disguised as anti-terrorism cooperation." Nicholas paused, something vulnerable creeping into his voice despite his victory. "I'm not even sure when I stopped trusting them completely. Maybe it was after Rex started asking too many questions about our quantum encryption keys, or when Lizzy began requesting access to client files she had no business reviewing. But some part of me always hoped I was wrong."
"My God. You've been playing the long game this entire time." Olivia surprised.
"I had to. After Clearwater's first infiltration attempt, I knew they'd try again. I just never suspected it would be Rex and Lizzy." Nicholas felt a bitter satisfaction as GDI's stock price climbed. "But their betrayal gave us something valuable—proof that our core systems are truly secure. The clients who fled in panic will return within days, bringing new contracts and higher fees."
"Olivia, I need you to coordinate with our legal team. I want criminal charges filed against Rex and Lizzy within the hour. Corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets, conspiracy to commit fraud—everything we can make stick."
"Already on it. I've got our lawyers drafting the paperwork now." Olivia paused. "Nicholas, are you sure you're safe down there?"
Nicholas looked at the synthetic Rex lying motionless in the corridor. Tomorrow, he'd have it repaired and reprogrammed. Not as a weapon, but as evidence—physical proof of Clearwater's illegal activities.
"I'm safe. The threat is neutralized." Nicholas accessed the cleanup protocols. "But Olivia—this isn't over. Clearwater is wounded, not dead. And there are other enemies, other threats lurking in the shadows of the corporate world."
"What do you want me to tell the board?"
"Tell them the truth—that GDI just proved we're the most secure data company in the world. And tell them to prepare for war, because everyone will want what we have now."
Nicholas ended the call and initiated the final cleanup sequence. On the screens around him, automated systems began their digital choreography, erasing some traces while amplifying others, crafting the official narrative that would define this night in GDI's corporate history.
The game was over, but was he truly the winner? Nicholas realized that victory in their world came at a cost few were willing to pay. Rex and Lizzy had chosen their path, but in defeating them, Nicholas had perhaps lost something more valuable than any amount of stolen data.
The price of being undefeatable was becoming someone others could no longer trust to remain human.
But as GDI's stock price soared and his enemies fell, Nicholas buried those doubts beneath the cold satisfaction of a strategy perfectly executed. In the corporate battlefield, sentiment was a luxury that could prove fatal.
The aftermath will be far more dangerous.