A black SUV was parked nearby, waiting for her, and she ran toward the gate. Out of nowhere, she heard a shout: "HEY! STOP!" Flashlights cut through the darkness, and suddenly, a bullet struck the tal pole next to her.
She took off, but another shot grazed her leg, making her fall hard. Pain shot through her thigh as four guards piled on top of her. One pressed her face into the concrete and sneered, "You really thought we wouldn’t catch you?" They dragged her back, leaving a trail of blood behind her like a shadow disappearing into the night.
*******
Alpha was in his private office, standing by the glass, watching as she was dragged in like an animal. Selina stood beside him.
"She almost made it," Selina muttered.
Alpha smiled darkly and replied, "Then it’s ti we show the world what we do with rats."
He initiated a live broadcast on the dark web, invite-only and password-protected. His assistant typed in the title: "The Auction: Hacker Queen Exposed."
The screen lit up with a preview:
"World’s Most Dangerous Hacker"
"Untraceable Beauty Now in Chains"
"You Asked for Revenge, We Deliver."
In the auction room, Alpha stood behind her chair. Her mouth was taped, but her eyes were still burning with defiance.
"You wanted to destroy my na and my family? You succeeded. Now I’ll sell yours, piece by piece."
What Alpha didn’t get was that she didn’t need to break out to take him down. By the ti she reached the SUV, she had already snuck a worm into his prison system. It made its way from the prison hub to his mainfra without being noticed.
Within a few hours, the chaos kicked in. The worm wiped out transaction records, dropped secret auction files, leaked internal info to anonymous channels, and erased backups of his entire empire.
He thought he was watching her fall apart. But really, she had already set the wheels in motion for his downfall. Under her breath, she muttered, "You’re selling your own downfall, you bastard."
*******
Hazard King stood in front of a dozen guys, all beat up from the latest raid by Karza. The border factory was wrecked, and they’d lost thirty loyal n. He hadn’t caught a wink of sleep in the last 48 hours.
He stared at a digital map where red dots blinked nacingly all over the place. Karza was definitely coming out on top, and the neutral syndicates were starting to switch sides.
"He’s taking you down bit by bit," Kade said, sounding worried. "And he’s not going to back off."
Hazard King tightened his fists. "Then we’ll end this with one big move."
He was thinking about taking out Karza’s main operation in one night, in one city, making sure the ssage hit hard. He started reaching out to the few allies he had left, knowing they were all he had. But deep down, he felt a pang of guilt. "I left Lunel."
******
As the auction countdown hit 60 seconds, the bids started rolling in fast:
$200,000,
$400,000,
$800,000.
Guys from the countries she had exposed were out for blood, wanting to take her for themselves.
Selina leaned in and quietly said, "We’ll wipe your na away and make you beg for your life. You’ll just be a ghost."
She went over to the table, grabbed a bottle of champagne and two glasses, then popped it open, letting the bubbles spill out. Alpha raised his glass and said, "Here’s to erasing legends."
But then...
The lights went out. The screen went black. All the computers turned off, and the broadcast was taken over. A single symbol flashed in red static:
LUNEL_LIVES.
Then, images of every buyer’s personal info, financial details, and GPS locations started flooding the internet. Selina scread as her glass slipped from her hands. Alpha froze, placing his glass down on the table in shock.
Every light in the room exploded. "She’s inside the system," he whispered in disbelief.
They both looked at her and signaled the guards to take her away.
The room was pretty dark, lit just by the soft red ergency lights that gave everything a strange vibe. Selina was pacing back and forth, clearly on edge. Alpha stared at the cracked server screen that had flashed "LUNEL_LIVES" before it glitched out.
Selina blurted out, "She’s not just so hacker; she’s like a virus. Did you see the chaos she caused in just five minutes? If she’s still around, we’re all in trouble."
Alpha, still processing everything, said, "We need to move her. No more ssing around. No more auctions." He opened a steel case on the table that had global routes inside.
"We’ll send her to the Black Sun Base in Western Australia. It’s completely off the grid, no signals, no way out. She won’t even breathe without our say-so."
Selina, still confused, asked, "And then what?"
Alpha smirked. "We’ll make her rebuild our network from scratch. She’ll either work for us... or she’ll just rot in the dark."
********
She found herself back in the sa cold, glass-walled cell again. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut, her lip was split, and her ankle was all bruised, but her gaze never faltered.
In the reflection of the bulletproof glass, she spotted Selina and Alpha chatting quietly on the upper walkway. She made a ntal note of every word their lips ford: "Australia. Transfer. Isolated base?"
Her heart skipped a beat. This was her last shot.
After two hours, they finally started getting ready for her transfer. Two bodyguards walked her down the corridor. Both were tall, heavily armored, and ard with stun batons and pulse-trigger vests; there was no room for screw-ups. Her wrists were tied, but they made one big mistake: they underestimated her hands.
She rembered her ntor saying, "Every hacker needs one weapon that doesn’t rely on code: the mind. And the mind needs a trigger." He had taught her a move that didn’t need any obvious weapon, just a wire, a quick motion, and pure intent. She never thought she’d actually have to use it.
Until now.
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