It was silent. No sound — just people walking past, left and right.
Michael and I stood still, waiting… just waiting.
Then a thought crept into my mind.
Should I really have done this? Was it worth following that deal?
I could've just run away. Disappeared.
But it was too late.
We were already standing in front of the Global Bank.
Suddenly, a sharp beep echoed inside my head.
Beep… Beep…
> "Go."
We darted forward.
"The vent is in the back," I said through the speaker in Michael's ear. "Once we step on the grass, move slowly."
We reached the edge of the lawn. As our feet touched the grass, we crouched low.
Up ahead, the night-shift guards walked into the bank.
We ducked into a bush, holding our breath as the last guard passed.
"Now," I whispered.
We sprinted to another bush, freezing as the security camera swept past. Then again, we moved — bush to bush — closing in on the vent.
Michael whispered, "Why this vent specifically?"
I responded through the speaker, "It's wide enough to fit a person. Maintenance teams use it for cleaning the upper vents. It's rarely monitored."
"I see..."
"Now," I said.
We reached the vent. Michael quickly unscrewed the metal cover while I kept watch.
"Got it," he whispered, handing me the cover. He crawled inside first. I followed, then slid the cover back into place from the inside.
The metal tunnel echoed with each shift of our bodies.
I looked down through the slits in the vent. People were inside — some seated, others at the counter, janitors wiping floors.
"We wait here for two minutes," I said.
Michael nodded silently.
Then — sirens.
They drew closer.
Michael whispered, "What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know. Just stay low. Move when I say."
We crawled faster now, metal creaking under our weight. We reached the vent overlooking the stairwell.
Michael whispered again, "It's 12:16. What now?"
"I can hack the system from here," I said through the speaker. "But it's the Global Bank. If I try a full breach, they'll trace us in about 13 minutes."
Michael paused. "So… wait and see why the cops are here? Or take the risk?"
I watched the flickering security lights.
"...I'll do a partial hack. Just the system controlling our current path. That should avoid detection — or buy us time if we're wrong."
"Understood."
I closed my eyes.
Suddenly, the world shifted.
---
> Hacking Mode: Activated
> System Cooldown: 5 minutes
> Estimated Hack Duration: 4 minutes, 58 seconds
> Warning: Don't make a mistake.
---
I became something else — my body turning into a digital bird, composed of flickering numbers and raw data.
I soared through the bank's internal systems, gliding through firewalls and fiber signals.
I reached a camera node and fired a stream of code into it.
Its health bar dropped… until it blinked out.
One down.
I dashed to the next.
Another gone.
But then — something bigger loomed ahead.
A guardian made of dense firewall code, shaped like a figure of light and static. It stood in front of the next node.
I knew what it was.
> Intrusion Countermeasure — Active.
A defense AI.
Now... the real mission begins