Chapter 159: The First Move
For several seconds after the message appeared, no one in the operations center moved.
The glowing words on Marcus's screen looked almost unreal.
Now the real test begins.
The letters blinked softly against the dark interface, calm and deliberate.
Marcus felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten.
"This… isn't good."
Adrian leaned over the desk, reading the message again.
"No system tag," he muttered.
"No sender ID," Marcus added.
Elena remained still.
Her eyes didn't leave the screen.
"Trace it."
Marcus already had.
He ran a rapid system scan, tracing the packet route across the network layers.
Nothing.
The message had entered the system and vanished instantly.
No identifiable gateway.
No traceable origin.
Marcus exhaled slowly.
"It's masked."
Adrian rubbed his jaw.
"So whoever did this knows our system architecture."
"Yes," Marcus said quietly.
"Very well."
