Chapter 5 - The Master ServerPanic spiked in my chest. If he walked out of the study now, I would be caught dead in the hallway.
With desperate speed, I slipped down the opposite corridor, ducked behind the heavy velvet drapes of the guest wing, and held my breath. Footsteps padded down the hall—slow, measured, and arrogant. Richard walked past my hiding spot, heading toward the ground-floor kitchen to pour himself a glass of whiskey.
I waited five agonizing seconds, then slipped silently into the master study.
The room was dark, illuminated only by the faint green glow of the desktop monitor resting on the mahogany desk. I rushed to the side credenza where Daniel’s old backup hard drive—disguised as a standard external storage unit—was plugged directly into the master routing hub.
I pulled a small USB flash drive from my coat pocket and plugged it into the hub.
On the screen, a command-prompt window popped up automatically, flashing Daniel’s customized startup signature: D.M.SECURE_V4.2.
A folder labeled ARCHIVE_PROJECT_OMEGA began downloading at blazing speed.
Progress bar: 15%... 45%... 80%... 100%.
May you like
Complete.
I pulled the drive free just as a heavy thud echoed from downstairs—Richard was heading back up.
