Regardless of whether I ever find out the truth surrounding my sister’s murder and who her killer was, the endgame will remain the same. One of them wrapped their hands around my sister’s neck and smashed the back of her skull in, but as far as I’m concerned, their entire corrupt little Society needs to be brought to its knees.
“Mr. Johnson, how long do you expect it will take before I’m given access? There’s only so much I can do with entry level clearance. I won’t be able to check or maintain any of the high-level security at this point, Sir,” I explain to him, and he nods in understanding.
“I’m aware of that, however until it’s been approved you’ll have to do what you can” he responds, before tacking on. “Also, feel free to call me Devin.”
I’m surprised that he’d allow me to address him by his first name rather than by his title or Sir, but then I know nothing about him beyond his family name, reputation, and their link to the infamous and untouchable Society.
“Thank you, then please can you call me Ethan rather than Mr. Beckett,” I say, feeling like I should at least make an effort to integrate myself.
At my words, his lips twitch up into a faint grin, and I’m shocked at how much even such a minor fluctuation in his expression from the scowl transforms his face. Mentally, I scold myself for reacting to the sudden change. I’m determined to maintain my resolve to not become distracted by my grief, but it seems keeping focused on the job may end up being harder than I thought. I need to remember that Devin is one of them, and that his hands are probably just as bloody as the rest of theirs.
“Very well,” he replies, that damned ghost of a smile still in place as he turns and leads me down another hallway into an office with a series of screens and computers.
This must be the hub for the entire house. That’s good to know.
“So, what’s the problem currently?” I ask, moving closer to look at the screens.
Mostly it looks like surveillance for the house. The majority of the cameras around the property are focused on what would normally be the blind spots for the house, as well as scattered through the hallways. None in any of the bedrooms or offices. I see a couple of cameras situated in the small house I’ve been allocated, in the entrance and kitchen, as well as the upstairs landing, but I was already aware of those.
“At a glance it all looks to be in working order, but any deeper issues I won’t be able to access yet to check on and repair,” I assess, straightening up to look at Devin.
“I know,” he replies. “I believe the problem was a staffing one which has now been taken care of. Several break-ins led us to a discovery that there were some serious issues with our security networking systems and alarms. However, we’re unsure of any residual or lasting damage he may have caused when he shut them down for long periods of time. I believe he may have been doing so remotely rather than from here, so there’s still a possibility of a breach in our firewalls. We’ve taken precautions, but it’ll be your job to ensure it doesn’t happen again, as well as repair, upgrade, and monitor for any other potential breaches.”
I nod in understanding. Devin is clever, either that or someone else, maybe one of his subordinates explained it to him. I don’t know, but I suppose it’s not my job to find that out, although if he’s as clever as he seems, it may work against me later. But I can’t worry about that, because if I spend all my time worrying about the consequences of what will happen if it blows up in my face, I’ll lose my nerve, or more dangerously, make mistakes.
He goes on to explain what he believes was the cause of the system failure, more than just a corrupt employee fucking around with what he shouldn’t be. How will I be any better than the last guy? I won’t fuck up and get caught. As he speaks I notice the confidence with which he carries himself and the surety in what he’s saying. He’s not just reciting something he’s been told by someone else. My initial assessment of him was correct, he’s very clever.
This could be potentially bad for me, but it just means I’ll need to work harder to cover my tracks when I get in the system and start integrating the sleeper inside the software coding. Apart from myself, if anyone could figure it out and track me down, it’d probably be Devin. However, I’m confident in my abilities, and I clearly have a lot more working experience than him. As he said to me, ‘it’s your job.’ Yes it is, but you’ll be paying for trusting the wrong man to do it. Payback is a bitch, and I intend to be its master.
Chapter Seven
Devin
I walk Ethan through everything in order to give him an idea of what to expect. I’m pissed that his clearance hasn’t come through yet for us to get him started, but everything has been very unstable and uncertain since I got rid of
