“Are you sure? You couldn’t be mistaken?” Amber said as she leaned over Lena’s shoulder and looked at the laptop screen.
“I’m positive… do doubt. We’ve been hacked.” Lena replied.
“How is this possible? We’re on the cutting edge of cyber security… who could have pulled this off? Is it government backed?” Amber asked.
“No, I don’t think so… in fact…” Lena replied with a concerned look on her face, “…I think it might be… internal.” she said in a hushed tone.
“Shit.” Amber stated flatly.
She stood up and crossed her arms under her breasts and thought for a moment, “Ok, let’s go.” she finally said.
Lena turned and looked at Amber, “Are you sure?”
Amber nodded and so Lena stood up, grabbing her laptop as she did and sliding it under her arm as they walked out of her office.
“Tom, do you have a minute?” Amber said as she stuck her head into the CEO’s office. Behind her was Lena, and behind Lena was Ginger, the CEO’s assistant, nervously squirming at having been unable to stop Amber from opening the CEO’s door.
Tom looked up from his monitor and smiled, “Sure Amber, what’s up?” he asked and Amber stepped into his office with Lena in tow.
Ginger closed the door behind them as they walked over to Tom’s desk and sat in the chairs in front of it.
“Sorry to disturb you Tom, but Lena found something… concerning.” Amber said.
Tom raised an eyebrow and nodded, “Go on…”
Amber turned to Lena and similarly nodded to her, “Take a look…” she said and Lena held her laptop up and set it on Tom’s desk facing him.
Tom looked in concern as he read what was on screen, “We’ve been hacked? By who?” he asked.
Amber spoke up, “Yes, but we’re not sure… we think it might be… from the inside.” she replied.
Tom leaned back into his chair, “So no outside leak… just this internal hack… do you know who it is?” he asked
Amber shook her head, “No, whoever it is has covered their tracks well.” she replied.
A smile crossed Tom’s face and he nodded, “Well of course I did… I mean I was responsible for setting up all the security protocols after.” he said with a smug satisfaction on his face.
Amber’s eyes went wide with the realization, “You? But…” she sputtered out and Tom chuckled.
“Of course me, how else do you think some low level security pleb became the CEO of your company overnight?”
Amber’s head spun and she shot up out of her chair.
“I mean, your technology was great, but you were under underutilizing it. I’ve put it to much better use.”
Suddenly everything fell in to place, the change in the company dress code, the exodus of so many employees, the changes in the physical appearance of so many of those that remained.
She was about to bold for the door when Tom’s voice penetrated the haze of anger and confusion, “Engage drone mode.”
Suddenly her mind went blank, her back straighted and she pushed her chest out as her arms and legs straightened and became ridged. Beside her Lena stood up and assumed the exact same position.
“Drone mode engaged.” their voices echoed in unison.
Tom stood up from behind his desk and walked in front of Lean first, “Drone Lena, report status.” he said.
Amber head Lena’s voice speak in a slow monotone, “Drone Lena operating at 100%. All protocols fully implemented. Physical upgrades 60% complete.”
Tom nodded and then walked over in front of Amber, “Drone Amber, report status.”
Amber’s voice filled her old office, “Drone Amber operating at 75%. 50% of protocols implemented. Physical upgrades 10% complete.”
“Estimated time to 100% operational status?”
“2 weeks, 3 days, 15 hours.” her voice replied.
“Good.” he replied and then took a step back, “Enabled drone memory edit mode.” he said to both of them.
“Edit mode enabled.” they both replied.
“Erase hacking incident knowledge and replace with completed review of security status as being 100% secure.”
Their eyelids flickered for a moment and then both their voices responded in unison, “Edit complete.”
Tom picked up Lena’s laptop and deleted the information that she had presented and then set it back down.
“Drone Amber, return to your office, disengage, and spend the rest of the day on the training material in your inbox.”
“Drone Amber complies.” she said and then turned and walked out of Tom’s office, returning to her own.
“Drone Lena, enable oral protocols.” Tom said and Lena dropped to her knees, lips parted, and eager to comply.
