Chapter 12 - A Dinner of Glass and Poison
Across town in a glass penthouse overlooking Central Park, Richard Sterling, CEO of Vanguard Global, poured himself a glass of vintage Bordeaux. Seated across from him was the courier who had retrieved the flash drive from Penn Station.
“Are you certain these are Halcyon’s quantum encryption patents?” Sterling asked with a predatory grin.
“100% certified,” the courier replied eagerly. “With this, Vanguard can monopolize the entire fintech encryption market.”
Sterling walked over to his titanium mainframe terminal, pulled the flash drive from his pocket, and inserted it into the USB port. He clicked on the folder *Halcyon_Quantum_V1.*
Instead of source code, a single red window flashed across the monitor:
May you like
*ACCESS DENIED. DECOY PAYLOAD ACTIVATED. FEDERAL MARSHALS EN ROUTE.*
Sterling dropped his wine glass, shattering the crystal across the rug as the penthouse smart-locks automatically sealed every exit.
