JULIUS
Moscow, Velarion Technologies Headquarters
Skyscraper Office – 87th Floor, 9:47 AM
The silence in my office was golden—just the low hum of the servers beneath the floor and the distant whirr of the city beyond the bulletproof glass walls. Everything was running like clockwork. Just the way I liked it.
I was reviewing the numbers for our new prototype launch, sipping my black espresso, when the door burst open without warning.
"Sir, it's an emergency!"
I didn't even glance up. "How many times have I told you to knock, Louis?" I asked calmly, though the irritation in my voice was clear.
"I—I'm sorry, sir," Louis stammered, breathless, his suit slightly wrinkled from whatever sprint he'd just taken to get here. "But it really is an emergency."
I finally looked up, placing the cup down gently. "Speak."
His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. "Sir… someone's breached the system."
Silence.
I stared at him, deadpan. "What system?"
"Our core system, sir. The one handling restricted files. Including... the archive."
I leaned back, eyebrows raised. "Louis, do I look like a fool to you?"
"N-No sir—"
"Because that's what you're making me feel like right now." My voice dropped cold. "We have the most secure cyber-infrastructure in all of Russia. Some of the finest minds in cryptography work under us. That system is locked behind triple-tier firewalls, biometric access, and AI pattern recognizers. No one can get in."
"I know, I know, sir," Louis blurted out, panic evident now. "But somehow... someone did. They accessed the files. The ones in the 'Oblivion' folder. Including—"
"—The videos," I finished for him, my voice suddenly sharp as steel.
Louis nodded, eyes wide. "Yes, sir. The kill footage... everything."
For a brief moment, the air in the room felt heavier. My fingers curled slightly on the desk. Then I exhaled, long and slow.
"So someone broke into the devil's vault," I murmured, half-amused. "And lived long enough to panic the devil's assistant."
Louis blinked. "Sir?"
I stood up, the floor beneath my Italian shoes humming as I stepped toward the window. Below me, Moscow sprawled out like a chessboard. So many people. So many pieces. One of them, apparently, had just made a very bold move.
"They'll report us," Louis said cautiously. "I mean... any sane person would. The footage—it's damning."
He was right. No civilian stumbles across executions and drug trade logs and just shrugs it off. No, they'd run to the police. The media. Maybe even Interpol.
Which meant...
"Looks like we have one more person to send on a 'vacation'," I said flatly, using our infamous euphemism.
"Understood, sir. I'll assign a task force—"
"Wait." I turned to face him fully. "Who is it? Do we have an identity?"
Louis hesitated. "That's the... odd part. It's not a 'he.' It's a she."
I paused.
"A woman?"
He nodded. "Yes, sir. Young. Possibly mid-twenties. Her access trail was messy, but intelligent. And fast. She didn't trip a single active alarm until she was already halfway through the files."
My brows drew together. Intrigue sparked beneath the layers of caution. "A girl broke into Velarion's mainframe?" I repeated slowly. "Are you absolutely certain?"
"No doubt. Facial recognition picked her up from a leftover traffic camera last week in Moscow. She's local."
I let out a low chuckle, one that startled Louis.
"Well, well..." I murmured. "That's... fascinating."
In all these years, no one had gotten past my layers of protection. Not my rivals. Not enemy governments. Not even former insiders. And now, a random girl had danced her way into the heart of my secrets?
"Bring her to me," I said at last. My voice was smooth, but cold enough to freeze glass.
Louis hesitated. "You want us to kill her?"
I turned to him, my expression unreadable.
"No. Not yet." I smiled faintly. "I want to meet the little magician who picked the lock on the devil's door."
Louis nodded stiffly, understanding the weight of that order. "I'll take care of it."
"Do whatever it takes," I said, waving him off. "Stop her before she stops us."
As he left, the door closed with a hiss behind him.
I returned to my desk, but my thoughts were no longer on profit sheets or launch dates. They were on her.
Who was she?
How did she do it?
And most importantly...
Why did it feel like the first real game had just begun?