The alarm did not sound. Alarms were for amateurs. Alarms were for people who wanted to be noticed.
Lisa sat in the server room. The lights were off. Only the glow of the monitors illuminated her face. Her hands were frozen over the keyboard. On the central screen, a red icon pulsed. It was a small dot. Located in Jōkan. Sector Three. It was one of their primary intelligence assets. A contact. A safe drop. A listening post. It was gone. Not destroyed. Not raided. Compromised.
Lisa typed a command. She accessed the feed. The camera showed the room. It was empty. The equipment was still there. The files were still on the desk. But the encryption key had changed. Someone had walked in. Someone had copied the data. Someone had left the door open. It was a message. We were here. We are still here.
Lisa closed the feed. She stood up. Her chair scraped against the floor. She walked out of the room. She did not run. She walked with purpose.
