Page 68 of Rescuing Sophia
“Why were you looking for a breach in the first place?” Max leans back in his chair, frowning.
“We’ve been on high alert since we rescued Mia,” Sam says. “That’s why we initiated Protocol Zero—it’s not just about locking down Guardian personnel, but also reinforcing security measures across our systems. We’ve taken every precaution to protect against any potential breaches.”
“We noticed a sudden increase in data requests.” Mitzy doesn’t miss a beat, pulling up a graph on the screen. “At first glance, they looked legit, but the volume and timing didn’t sit right. That’s when we knew something was up.
“And then there was a network traffic spike.” Mitzy pulls more data. “We couldn’t trace it back to scheduled activities, which made us dig deeper.”
“All of this happened while we had issues with a security system update.” Forest’s gaze sweeps across the room as he folds his arms. “It failed to install properly, and we were worried it might have been compromised during the process.”
My mind races, thinking back to my missing badge. Could it be connected?
“Any idea who’s behind it?” Ethan asks, his fingers drumming a restless rhythm on the table.
“That’s what we’re here to figure out.” Sam shakes his head. “We need ideas, theories, anything that might help us understand what we’re dealing with.”
“Could it be an inside job?” The question slips out before I can stop it. The room falls silent, all eyes turning to me.
“That’s a heavy accusation, Blake. What makes you say that?” CJ’s eyebrows shoot up.
I swallow hard, aware of the weight of my words. “Just—the level of access they seem to have. The subtlety of it all. It feels like someone who knows our systems.”
Mitzy nods slowly. “He’s not wrong. The intruder navigates our security like they built it themselves.”
“But who?” Walt from my team speaks up. “We all go through rigorous background checks. And the loyalty of everyone in this room is beyond question.”
“Is it?” Brady’s quiet voice carries clearly across the room. “We’ve been infiltrated before.”
Rigel shifts in his seat, his brow furrowed. “I remember Protocol Zero being activated when we rescued Mia, but that whole mission was a blur. Can someone remind me what exactly was involved? I wasn’t fully briefed afterward, and it feels relevant now.”
CJ’s expression softens, understanding the chaos Rigel must have experienced during that time. “Sure thing, Rigel. Protocol Zero is more than just a lockdown. We isolated key personnel, scrambled communication lines, and rebooted the system from a clean backup.”
Mitzy nods, picking up where CJ left off. “We also cut off all external contact and ran every team member through psychological evaluations, looking for any signs of coercion or manipulation.”
Forest leans forward, his voice steady. “Behavioral audits, asset freezes, financial monitoring—we tore everything apart looking for breaches. And when we rebuilt, we didn’t stick to a predictablelayout or routine. Access routes were changed, key areas were relocated, and entry points were reassigned.”
Sam adds, “We also enhanced physical security—biometric access, armed patrols, random schedules. Every piece of equipment was wiped and reprogrammed. We didn’t just change the locks; we built an entirely new house.”
Forest’s gaze sweeps the room. “And for the most critical missions, we activated Ghost Protocol. Operatives went completely off-grid. Their identities were erased from every system. Only a handful of us knew they even existed.”
Rigel nods slowly, the reminder settling in. “Got it. So if someone’s breached us now, they’ve either found a way around all of that… or were never fully locked out in the first place.”
The tension in the room ratchets up a notch.
Rigel leans forward, the concern evident in his voice. “Why not just activate Protocol Zero again? If we’ve been breached, shouldn’t we lock everything down like before?”
Mitzy shakes her head, her fingers tapping lightly on the table. “We’ve considered it, but activating Protocol Zero now is like waving a giant red flag. Whoever’s behind this will know we’re onto them. Right now, we’re monitoring the situation, minimizing data leaks, and trying to trace their movements. If we lock down, we lose the element of surprise—and any chance to catch them in the act.”
I frown, trying to piece it all together. “What about the pattern of the breaches? Is there any rhyme or reason to which systems are being hit?” My gaze shifts from Mitzy to Sam.
“That’s the odd thing.” Mitzy turns back to her laptop, pulling up a series of diagrams on the large screen at the front of the room. “The intrusions seem... random. Almost like they’re testing our defenses, probing for weaknesses.”
“Or creating distractions,” Gabe mutters beside me.
I turn to him. “What do you mean?”
He shrugs. “Just thinking out loud. But what if all these small breaches are meant to keep us looking in the wrong direction while something bigger is happening?”
The room falls silent as we consider this possibility. It’s a chilling thought that makes a disturbing amount of sense.