Wipeout | Book 1 | Wipeout

had joined their conversation, unsurprised to see it was Belinda Daniels, an incredibly stuck-up woman from the coding department who had been zero help since the systems all went down nearly an hour ago. When the code red had been issued, everyone in the building was told to either evacuate or remain behind if they believed they could aid the scenario. As a result, the twenty or so people who had gathered on the nineteenth floor had varying positions within the company, but all shared a passion for it and wanted to do right by the place they worked. All of them except Belinda Daniels that was. Much like Claire Manning herself, it seemed like a piece of bad luck that the woman had been left behind to ride out the disaster with the rest of them.

“Give it a rest, Belinda,” Austin sighed, turning to walk away from the woman. “What’s the point in trying to make this more difficult than it is.”

“What’s the point in not?” She retorted with a laugh before flopping down in one of the leather desk chairs and resting her now stiletto-less feet on a desk. Even Claire Manning hadn’t been able to talk her down. Belinda had fully given in to the decision that Trident was ruined and that her future had gone down with it. As a result, she saw no point in trying to do anything about it and was an irritating dead weight that the rest of them were forced to carry along with them.

Doing his best to ignore the woman, Austin returned to the desk space he had made his own and picked up the phone again. He normally worked in human resources on the floor below, managing relationships within the company and dealing with any internal complaints or affairs. He didn’t know the first thing about cyber security or coding or finance – aside from the bare minimum required to get a job for a banking corporation – so in truth a lot of what was happening with the real disaster was going over his head. But Austin did recognize that there were just over twenty people trapped at the top of the building and unless something happened, they weren’t likely to get out any time soon. He had a partner and a young child to get back to and if there was anything he could do to make the journey to them even slightly quicker, he was willing to do it. So, picking up the phone again, Austin dialed the number of yet another private security company in the city. The first few levels of the building needed to be cleared and someone would surely take on the job eventually.

***

Claire Manning racked her brain over what to do. Clearing the building and finding a way out was so far down the bottom of her priorities list, she didn’t even know it was a concern out on the floor. The future of the bank and its reputation was much more pressing to her. But no matter whom she spoke to or which view she heard on the situation, it was never good. Trident didn’t appear to have a hope in hell when it came to getting the money back. According to her closest advisers, it was in the bank’s best interests to retract the ransomware statement as soon as possible and tell the public the truth.

“If we issue a second statement now,” Graham offered, “we can simply say the first statement was a mistake. That we hadn’t gathered all the data properly before sharing the information. Perhaps if we hold our hands up people will go a bit easier on us.”

“No,” Claire shut his suggestion down immediately. “We’re not doing that. We can’t admit to the mistake. We can’t be seen to accept any more blame in this than we already have.”

“Blame?” Graham raised his eyebrows and dared to challenge the CEO. He was also on the Board of Directors. He had worked for Trident his entire life, as had his father before him, and he knew that their reputation was already ruined. The best thing they could do now was just try to save a little face. “This has gone well past the point of blame now, Claire. We’re ruined. There’s no coming back from this. Even if we manage to get the money back by some miracle, no one will ever bank with Trident again. This company is done for and everyone in this room knows it.”

“It’s gone beyond us,” Jasper added, fresh off the back of the conference with the wider security team and feeling determined to make a difference in the disaster. “The money isn’t going to be tracked down any time soon, if ever. The country is bust. We have a duty of care to its people now – the people who have trusted us for however long. We need to tell them the truth.”

Murmurs of agreement rippled around the room and in that moment, Claire Manning knew she was beaten. The Trident Banking Corporation had been a legacy of her family for generations. Her three-time great grandfather founded the company from his college dorm, offering at the time a new method of banking that the world desperately needed. They’d been through hard times as a company before, but somehow always managed to pull through. Now she couldn’t help but see herself as a failure. She was the first female CEO of the company and apparently the last. What would her father say? Would he understand, or would he once again view his daughter as nothing but a disappointment?

“Very well,” she admitted, surprising most of her colleagues in the room with her change of heart. “We’ll tell the truth. Anyone got any bright ideas how to do it exactly?”

Once again, the room fell silent. The conversation was following a pattern that Claire had seen many times before in business. Everyone had an