Page 38 of Alien War Daddy's Got Rizz
“We have reason to believe this breach is connected to Mr. Grau’s ‘interference,’” Tidball continues, his eyes shiny with concern — or something like it. “Specifically, his unauthorized access into CY8 internal networks and compromised sectors.”
I grit my teeth, staring at the accusing coordinates floating in the air like accusations shaped in light. I can feel the charge in the room, like static from an overloaded grid.
I want—no, Ineedto defend him.
But for a moment, I’m frozen.
I hear nothing but my own blood rushing like a freight train in my skull.
“He’s been…what?” I finally manage, voice tight, shock and fury tangling into an unwelcome knot.
Tidball’s expression is sympathetic. Too sympathetic.
“That’s what our IT has determined,” he says calmly. “According to the logs, there was unauthorized access traced through Grau’s known signatures. We cross-referenced temporal overlaps with security footage. He was present here, in this building, at odd intervals.”
“Oh really?” I say, jaw tight. “By what miracle did our surveillance systems record ‘odd intervals’ but somehow fail to trackexactly who was there when?”
No one answers.
Tidball doesn’t blink.
Instead, he folds his hands and smiles again.
“Yara, I know this is difficult. We all want what’s best for the company. But we also have to be realistic about vulnerabilities.”
I want to throw something. The air is too warm, the lights too bright, the betrayal too damn loud.
“That’s absurd,” I say, hands clenching into fists. “Grau has never even accessed our core servers. And when he was here, he was under my direct supervision. You were in that meeting, Jonathan. How do you explain that?”
Tidball doesn’t flinch.
He leans back, like he expects the walls to support him.
“We’re still investigating,” he says softly. “But it appears that the signature of the breach follows his known combat coding andneural imprinting. It’s—well—very consistent with someone like him.”
Someone like him.
Like a monster, he means.
Like someone whodestroys,not builds.
I swallow hard.
This is betrayal dipped in sugar, and I can taste it on my tongue.
The executives around the table nod politely. They look like sheep waiting for a shearing.
I have a choice.
I can let this rot go unchallenged…
Or I can defend the man I barelyknowbut somehow trusts more than them.
My voice comes out louder than I mean it to be.
“That’sridiculous.”
Heads turn.
