Page 4 of Hollow Code
Whoever this was, he or she wasn’t as stupid as Gideon first thought. Another ten minutes ticked by, but no luck. Without warning, his screen went dark, dimming the room further. His computer system—hardware and software—groaned like it was about to take its last mechanical breath.
It was as if someone had shut him down, and that made little sense. Unless someone was watching him from inside Hyperion. But why? And why turn off the test run?
Before he could even blink, two security guards were at his door.
"Come with us," one of them said.
"Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got a problem that I need to deal with."
"We know all about it," the other one said. "Finch wants to see you."
"About?" He stared at the two security men who inched forward.
One of them took Gideon by the arm and tugged. "Not for us to say. Now, let's move."
Whatever had just happened, whatever Gideon had stumbled onto, he had a feeling he was about to find out what and why. And he was positive he wasn’t going to like it.
Gideon never liked spending much time on the executive floor. He didn’t like button-down shirts, sports coats, or pleated pants, and it seemed that those were the only things that the men who worked on that level wore.
Except Finch.
It also drove Gideon nuts that no one, including him, called Finch by his first name, which was Oliver. Hell, Gideon hadn’t even known what it was the entire first year he’d worked at Hyperion.
One of the guards tapped on the door before pushing it open.
As Gideon stepped inside, he realized he hadn’t been in this office since the day he’d been hired. The only interaction he’d had with the big boss man had been during team meetings, which occurred on Gideon’s floor, or with Darwin, which usually happened in Darwin’s office.
Gideon’s heart rate increased as he glanced around the room. It was one thing to be called in to see the boss. It was another thing entirely to walk into Finch’s office with the head of HR sitting in one of the chairs with a folder in her lap.
Finch didn’t say a word. Not one damn word. Just gestured toward the chair across from his desk, next to Lidia. Lips drawn in a tight line, he leaned forward and clasped his hands together.
Gideon dropped into the seat, glancing at his watch, something he rarely did. His time blindness was one of the reasons his last girlfriend had dumped him. According to her, not only did he not have a sense of time, but he didn’t respect anyone else’s. Not entirely true. He’d admit to getting lost in his work and losing track of time, but he was rarely late for a meeting. He just never showed up on time for a date.
"We’ve got a problem," Finch said.
Gideon wasn’t sure if he was supposed to respond to that or not, especially since Finch hadn’t even said hello, so Gideon said nothing. The next few minutes of silence were louder than a bomb.
Lidia shifted, opened her file, and pulled out a stack of papers.
"Do you want to tell me why you were trying to access a server outside the scope of your employment contract?" Finch asked.
"Excuse me?" Gideon stared at Finch.
"Our security system, which you helped create, logged your computer as trying to access a server that you don’t have clearance for."
"You need to look at what came through the telemetry system, because it can’t be anything you’ve approved," Gideon said, the words rushing out of his mouth like a swarm of bees. "Someone is using what I created and running it through our hubs before doing a data dump. It’s all made worse by what I believe is a dosing?—"
"That data you pulled was part of the test," Finch said.
"What do you mean?" Gideon asked, but he wasn’t sure there was any way to make sense of the statement.
"It was brought to my attention that ETHER and the HELIOS device had some potential glitches." Finch cocked his head. "Before I could allow the Canadian Military to use it real time, I had to make sure it wasn’t putting our soldiers in danger."
"Who said there were problems, because?—"
Finch held up his hand. "Doesn’t matter. The point is, your system isn’t ready."
"Sir," Gideon said, falling back on his military training, which wasn’t something he did often. "I mean no disrespect, but what I saw wasn’t my coding. What I pulled was someone else’s—a cheap imitation."
