Page 56 of Reckless: Chaos

I lead them through the security measures Quinn installed. Each checkpoint requires different authentication—retinal scan, key card, voice print. By the time we reach the central server room, even Jinx has settled into mission mode.

The drive feels impossibly small in my palm as I approach the terminal. Just a tiny piece of metal and silicon that could change everything. Or destroy it all.

“What do you know about the encryption?” Finn asks, already typing commands into the adjacent system.

“Nothing.” I insert the drive, watching indicator lights flicker to life. “She kept this close to her chest.”

“For good reason,” Jinx mutters, pacing behind us. “If what Quinn suspects about Sterling Labs is true...”

Finn’s fingers fly across the keyboard, his usual methodical nature showing in each precise command. Multiple windows open as he runs initial diagnostics.

“Interesting.” He leans forward, glasses reflecting cascading data. “RSA-2048 on the surface, but...” His fingers pause. “That’s different.”

“What are we looking at?” I ask, watching him pull up another window of pure code.

“The initial encryption is what you’d expect—corporate grade, meant to look standard.” His typing speeds up. “But there’s something underneath. The way the algorithms are layered...”

He runs several penetration tests, each one more aggressive than the last. The drive responds with increasingly complex defensive protocols.

“Quantum-resistant cryptography,” he mutters, more to himself than us. “But the implementation is unlike anything I’ve seen. The mathematical framework is...” He breaks off, focusing on a new anomaly.

“Can you break it?”

“Given enough time and processing power, yes.” But his tone carries doubt. “The problem is, each attempt at brute forcing triggers additional security protocols. We’d need significantly more computational power than what we have here.”

The screens fill with his attempts to navigate the encryption, but I can tell by the tension in his shoulders that we’re getting nowhere.

“There’s quantum entanglement in the encryption itself.” Finn’s voice holds equal parts frustration and admiration. “Every time I try to isolate one layer, it affects all the others. It’s like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube that rearranges itself with each turn.”

I watch his attempts grow increasingly complex, but the encryption holds. Even Jinx has stopped pacing, drawn in by the intensity of Finn’s battle with the code.

“Whoever designed this...” Finn trails off as another attempt fails. “They’re not just good. They’re revolutionary. The mathematical concepts alone are?—”

“Sterling Labs?” I ask, though I’m starting to suspect otherwise.

“No.” He sits back, running a hand through his usually perfect hair. “This is beyond anything they have. Beyond anything I’ve seen, actually. The quantum resistance alone would take years to develop, but combined with these adaptive algorithms...”

A soft beep cuts through the tension. Then another. Warning lights flash across the screens as system after system starts to shut down.

“What’s happening?”

“The encryption...” Finn’s hands fly across the keyboard, but nothing stops the cascade of failing servers. “It’s not just defending anymore. It’s attacking. Taking down our entire infrastructure.”

Through the walls, we hear the massive generators powering down one by one. Emergency lights flicker on, bathing everything in red.

“We need to go.” Jinx’s head snaps up, nostrils flaring. “Now.”

Before I can ask why, I hear it too—the distinctive sound of approaching vehicles.

“How did they—” Finn starts, but I’m already moving.

“Grab everything. Wipe what you can.” I pocket the drive while Finn initiates emergency protocols. “We’re not the only ones who knew about this place.”

“You mean we’re not the only ones watching her,” Jinx growls, already positioning himself between us and the door.

The implications of that hit me hard. We thought we were protecting her by keeping her in the dark. Instead, we might have just made her more vulnerable.

As if to emphasize the point, the first explosion rocks the building.

---