CHAPTER 32: PRESSURE
The world outside Knox Global had finally started noticing something was wrong.
It began quietly.
A financial monitoring agency in Zurich detected unusual data traffic between several international currency exchanges. A bank in Singapore reported delayed transaction confirmations. Two European trading firms flagged irregular patterns in commodity market algorithms.
Individually, they were minor anomalies.
Together, they were a warning.
By late afternoon, the first investigative inquiries had reached Knox Global's communications department.
By evening, the pressure began rising.
Inside the executive floor, the atmosphere had become tense in a different way.
Not chaos.
Something colder.
More strategic.
The boardroom television played a muted international news broadcast while several directors sat around the table watching the scrolling financial headlines.
One of them spoke first.
"They're asking questions."
Victor Hale glanced at the screen.
"What kind?"
"International market regulators."
Victor leaned back calmly.
"That was inevitable."
Another director slammed a folder onto the table.
"You say that like this isn't a disaster."
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"It isn't a disaster yet."
"And when will it become one?"
Victor pointed at the screen.
"When they realize Helios exists."
Silence fell across the room.
The door opened.
Adrian Knox walked in.
Immediately the directors turned toward him.
"Adrian."
"You've seen the news?"
Adrian didn't look at the television.
"Yes."
One director spoke sharply.
"Financial regulators are already noticing disruptions."
Adrian took his seat calmly.
"They're noticing irregularities."
"That's the same thing."
"No."
His voice remained controlled.
"Disruptions mean the system is acting. Irregularities mean someone is probing it."
Victor smiled faintly.
"Your sister."
"Yes."
The room went quiet again.
Another director rubbed his temples.
"If governments begin investigating Knox Global—"
"They will," Victor said.
Everyone turned toward him.
Victor folded his hands.
"You built a system capable of influencing global markets."
He looked at Adrian.
"You didn't think regulators would eventually notice?"
Adrian met his gaze.
"They noticed faster than expected."
Victor chuckled softly.
"Well, the world has a way of reacting poorly to secret economic superweapons."
Downstairs, inside the Knox Global communications department, alarms started ringing across several computers.
A young analyst looked up from her screen.
"Wait."
Her colleague turned.
"What?"
"Someone just sent an encrypted package to three financial news agencies."
Her colleague frowned.
"What kind of package?"
The analyst opened the file.
And immediately froze.
"Oh my god."
"What?"
She turned the monitor.
The document displayed several technical diagrams.
System architecture.
Network pathways.
Global financial exchange nodes.
And at the top of the page—
One word.
HELIOS
The colleague whispered, "That's not possible."
But it was.
Someone had just leaked partial Helios architecture to the media.
Elara was reviewing security reports when her phone vibrated.
Marcus.
She answered immediately.
"Yes?"
"Get to the communications floor."
His voice sounded tense.
"What happened?"
"You need to see this."
Five minutes later, Elara stood inside the communications department staring at the leaked files.
Marcus stood beside her.
"This was sent fifteen minutes ago."
"To who?"
"Three international financial journalists."
Elara scrolled through the diagrams.
"These are Helios infrastructure maps."
Marcus nodded grimly.
"Partial ones."
"But still real."
"Yes."
Elara exhaled slowly.
"Someone wants the world to know."
Marcus crossed his arms.
"Or at least start asking the right questions."
Elara turned toward him.
"Do we know who leaked it?"
Marcus shook his head.
"The transmission was routed through five proxy networks."
"So we can't trace it."
"Not yet."
Elara studied the diagrams again.
Something about them bothered her.
"Wait."
Marcus looked at her.
"What?"
"These files."
She zoomed in.
"They're incomplete."
"What do you mean?"
Elara pointed at the screen.
"The core Helios control layer is missing."
Marcus frowned.
"So?"
"So whoever leaked this information didn't want the full system exposed."
Marcus stared at the diagram.
"Why leak it at all then?"
Elara's voice became quieter.
"To create pressure."
Marcus slowly understood.
"You mean…"
"They want governments investigating Knox Global."
"And if that happens…"
"Helios becomes a global issue."
Marcus let out a low whistle.
"That's dangerous."
"Yes."
Elara looked at the timestamp.
"And whoever did it knows exactly what they're doing."
When Elara entered Adrian's office, he was already looking at the same files.
Of course he was.
He glanced up briefly.
"You've seen the leak."
"Yes."
Elara closed the door behind her.
"The media hasn't published it yet."
"They will."
"When?"
Adrian checked his watch.
"Within an hour."
Elara frowned.
"You sound certain."
"I am."
She walked closer to the desk.
"Why would Lysandra leak this?"
Adrian looked at the diagram.
"To force escalation."
Elara crossed her arms.
"Explain."
"If Helios remains secret, this is just a corporate crisis."
"But if governments get involved…"
"It becomes international."
Elara felt a chill.
"She wants attention."
"No."
Adrian's voice lowered.
"She wants leverage."
Elara stared at him.
"So the more governments panic…"
"The more power Helios has."
The logic was terrifying.
Elara glanced again at the diagrams.
"But something else is strange."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"The leak doesn't include the core command layer."
"Yes."
"You noticed."
Elara looked at him carefully.
"Which means whoever leaked this…"
"…is protecting the real system."
Adrian didn't answer.
The silence said everything.
Elara's eyes narrowed.
"You think it wasn't Lysandra."
Adrian leaned back slightly.
"She wouldn't leak partial information."
"Why not?"
"She prefers complete control."
Elara processed that.
"If she didn't leak it…"
Her voice dropped.
"Then someone inside Knox Global did."
Adrian nodded once.
"Yes."
The realization settled heavily.
There was still a traitor inside the company.
And they were escalating the crisis.
Across the city, Lysandra Knox watched the financial news networks begin discussing "unconfirmed rumors of a corporate market-control system."
Her monitors displayed Knox Global internal feeds.
Executives moving faster.
Security tightening.
Panic growing.
She smiled faintly.
"Right on schedule."
But the leak wasn't hers.
She knew that.
Which made it far more interesting.
Because someone else had just accelerated the timeline.
Her fingers moved across the keyboard again.
She whispered softly.
"Adrian…"
Another command executed.
Inside Helios, the two system signals moved closer together.
The ghost using Adrian's credentials had reached a restricted system layer.
Lysandra leaned forward slightly.
"Well."
Her eyes gleamed.
"Let's see who you really are."
And inside Knox Global—
Pressure was rising.
Exactly as the hidden players intended.