He opened the door on the server rack closest to him and pulled out one the many slide-mounted servers inside. Caiden took the USB drive with a reprogrammed microcontroller from his pocket and inserted it into the server. Within seconds, his exploit had worked. The entire security system went haywire. The lights on all the servers changed from blue to red, indicating a breach in the system’s security. The hover cameras began malfunctioning and rotated in a continuous three-hundred-and-sixty-degree motion as their video feeds cut in and out.
The database authentication system was temporarily compromised just as Caiden planned. The employee’s computer screens pulsated with nonsense, alternating between lines of gibberish code and a humorous message simply saying, “You have been hacked. Have a nice day!”Shortly thereafter, the alarms went off and the lights switched from regular halogen lighting to red in the hallways, offices, and reception. It was chaos at the touch of a button. He proceeded to hack the financial reserves of the bank, initiating the transfer of the seventy-five million Creds. Seconds passed and Caiden was typing at an inhuman speed. This was a dangerous job and would be something only he could pull off. Time kept ticking, the transfer was up to sixty-five million Creds. His pupils dilated, his heart rate increased. Caiden’s fingers were typing even faster now. Finally, the status bar on screen read “CR 75 000 000. Transfer complete”.
He began to disconnect from the server when suddenly a voice belted out, “Hey! What the hell are you doing?”
“Shit!” Caiden mumbled to himself as he was rushing to gather his belongings.
Do I run or do I find another way? He thought to himself. Caiden made a critical mistake by failing to override the keycard access to lock the door behind him when he first entered. The guard had arrived too quickly for him to do anything else.
“Um, I’m so sorry! It’s my first day here, I-I was told to go to the south wing of the building for clean-up crew and got lost!” Caiden exclaimed.
“Hands in the air! Show your Holo-ID! Now!” the guard demanded as he edged closer.
He noticed the guard was armed with only a shock baton. He was pointing it at Caiden. He could feel the heat from the electric current surging through the baton as the sparks tickled the surface of the skin on his hands. He cautiously hit the display on his watch to show the fake Holo-ID while slowly raising his hands in the air.
“Lupin Trice? With Calvar Cleaning?” the guard asked, showing relief.
“Yes, that’s me. I’m so sorry, I had no idea where I was going,” Caiden said while acting flustered and frazzled.
The guard fell for the act and began to relax a little. Without a second thought, Caiden rushed him, throwing a vicious left elbow to the bridge of the guard’s nose. A loud cracking sound resonated on impact as he sent the guard flying backward, crashing into a server rack. The shock baton shorted one of the servers as soon as it made contact. Caiden was surprised at the unbelievable brute force from his strike, looking at his hands in awe. He refocused, and took off toward the room’s exit. When he reached the door of the server room, the lights returned to soft yellow glow and the HSDs resumed their monitoring. He heard the guard’s shaky voice call for backup.
As he left, he locked the server room door from the outside, ensuring he would keep at least one pursuer off his tail. He turned the corner and dashed to the elevators, the sounds of footsteps and grunts from security guards got louder. He turned another corner and heard a guard instruct the others out front to look out for anyone suspicious leaving the building. With the brim of his hat low over his eyes, he made sure to duck away from any HSDs to avoid any facial recognition scans. Instead of the taking the elevators, he pressed the down button, then darted to the utility stairwell to throw off any other pursuers. Leaping down flights of steps, he landed each jump as quietly and quickly as an Olympic gymnast.
He approached the door at the bottom of the steps with extreme caution. He pushed it open and slowly poked his head out into the hallway; it was empty. He was close to the lobby. Before making a dash for it, he checked the large area for any movement. He took advantage of the lull and dashed across lobby. He slowed from a sprint to a brisk jog as he made his way down the hallway. The locker room was empty once again; it was frighteningly quiet.
He immediately began to take off his Calvar Cleaning Services disguise and placed it in the locker. He put his clothes back on and pulled his hood over his head, he then silently made his way toward the exit of the building. He was finally safe outside, and was overcome with relief. The streets were still lively and filled with people. Caiden walked among the shadows until he blended in with the crowd, completely avoiding the four guards at the front of the building. He peered back at the bank one more time and saw several additional guards sprint toward the front of the building to join the other four.
Holy shit! Glad I
