“Shut down the main system! Disconnect every external line!”

Devandra’s voice thundered through the control room, thick with smoke from overheated servers.

Staff ran in panic, some shouting over each other. Vania crouched in front of the backup console, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

“Dev! I need five minutes to stop their process!” she yelled.

“We don’t have five minutes!” Devandra barked, shoving aside a stumbling staff member as he approached her. “What are they doing?”

Vania didn’t answer. Her eyes locked on the lines of code flooding the screen.

“They’re planting active malware. If it finishes, Montgomery Group’s entire system will be theirs.”

Lyra stepped out from the...