THE BLACKLIST SYSTEM: REBIRTH OF NOAH VALE

“You are still here?”

Noah looked up from his screen. The office lights were dimmed, most desks empty, the air, stale and cold. Mark stood by the aisle with his jacket on, keys in hand, eyes looking past Noah instead of meeting them.

“I wanted to finish the compliance report,” Noah said. “The client meeting was moved up this afternoon.”

Mark nodded too quickly. “Right. That meeting.” He shifted his weight. “Well, don’t stay up too late.”

“Yeah..I’m almost done.”

Mark’s mouth opened, then closed. “Good luck,” he said, and walked away.

“ Thanks,” Noah smiled.

Noah turned back to his screen. He typed, paused, frowned, and hit refresh. The file failed to save. He tried again. An error message blinked once, then disappeared.

“Hmm….That’s strange,” he muttered.

He opened his email to send a backup copy. The send button grayed out.

“What?” He clicked again. Nothing.

He checked the network icon. Connected. He refreshed the inbox. No new messages. He tried opening the internal chat. It refused to load..

Noah stood and walked to the IT desk. It was empty. He glanced at the clock. 9:42 p.m.

“Hello?” he called softly.

No answer.

He returned to his desk and tried logging out and back in. The system rejected his password.

“That can’t be right.”

He typed it again, slower this time. Rejected.

His phone buzzed. Relief.

“ Thank God.”

“Hey,” he said, answering quickly.

Silence, then a familiar voice. “Noah, have you checked your email?”

“Yeah. It’s acting up. Do you know if IT did maintenance?”

There was a pause. Too long.

“Who told you to stay late?” the voice asked.

Noah frowned. “No one. I…I always stay late.”

Another pause. “Listen, maybe you should head home.”

“Why?”

“I just think it would be better.”

“For who…I don't understand?"

The call ended.

Noah stared at his phone. He checked his call logs. The name was gone, replaced by a number he did not recognize.

He sat back down, heart ticking faster. He tried accessing the shared drive. Access denied.

“Okay,” he said under his breath. “Okay. Calm down. This isn’t creepy at all. ”

Footsteps approached. He looked up to see Linda, head of HR, standing near his desk, her arms folded tight against her chest.

“Noah,” she said. “Can you come with me?”

“Is something wrong?”

She did not answer. She turned and walked. Noah followed, the sound of his shoes too loud in the quiet office.

They stopped outside a conference room. Two men in security uniforms stood inside. A third person sat at the table, a woman in a dark blazer, her tablet already open.

“Have a seat,” the woman said.

Noah remained standing. “What’s this about?”

“Please sit,” Linda said, her voice thin.

He sat.

The woman looked at him over the rim of her glasses. “Hmmm…Noah Vale. Project coordinator. Spent ten years with the company.”

“Yes.”

“We have reason to believe you were involved in unauthorized data transfers.”

“What!!...That’s not possible.”

She tapped her tablet. “Your credentials were used to access restricted files.”

“My credentials are shared with the team,” Noah said. “Everyone uses the same pool.”

“That is against the company's policy.”

“That’s how we were told to do it,” Noah said. “By management.”

Linda looked down.

The woman continued. “We also found evidence of external communication linked to your account.”

Noah shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The woman slid the tablet across the table. “These logs show otherwise.”

Noah leaned forward. His name was written neatly beside a list of timestamps. He scanned them quickly, then more carefully.

“I wasn’t here at these times.”

“The system says you were,” the woman said.

“I wasn’t,” Noah repeated, his voice filled with desperation. “You can check the cameras. You can check badge logs….Anything….Please”

“We did.”

“And?”

“They confirmed your presence.”

Noah laughed once, sharp and hollow. “That’s impossible.”

The woman did not react. “We are suspending your access pending investigation.”

“Wait…..You can’t just do that,” Noah said. “I have deadlines.”

“Your deadlines are no longer our concern.”

Linda finally looked at him. “You should cooperate, Noah. This will go easier if you do.”

Noah slammed his hand on the table.

“Go easier for who? ... .I don't understand?....I demand to know exactly what is going on here?" he demanded.

The woman stood. “Security will escort you out.”

One of the guards stepped forward. “Sir.”

Noah pushed back his chair, almost on his knees. “Please,this is a mistake. I've never been dishonest in my life. You have to believe me”

The guard placed a hand near his elbow. Not touching, but close enough.

“ Please Sir, that is enough. Do not make me throw you out roughly.”

He got up, without one more word, and followed the guard.

They walked through the offices together. A few late workers looked up. Conversations stopped. Eyes slid away.

At the exit, Noah reached for his badge. The reader flashed red.

“Try again,” the guard said.

He did. Red again.

The guard took the badge from his hand. “You’ll need to return company property.”

“That’s it?” Noah asked. “Ten years of working my ass off and that’s it?. You won't even listen to me.”

The guard said nothing.

Outside, the night air felt wrong. Too open. Too quiet.

Noah pulled out his phone and dialed Mark. Straight to voicemail.

He called again. Same result.

He called Linda. The call did not connect.

His phone buzzed with a message.

Unknown Number: Please confirm receipt of this notice.

He opened the attached document. His breath caught.

“Notice of Termination,” he read aloud, tears forming in his eyes.

He scrolled. Words blurred together. Gross misconduct. Breach of trust. Immediate effect.

Another message followed.

Unknown Number: Due to ongoing investigation, your professional status is under review.

Noah leaned against the building wall. The concrete pressed cold into his back.

“This can’t be real,” he whispered.

A notification popped up from a job board he had applied to earlier that week.

Application Status Updated.

He tapped it.

Application Closed.

“ Maybe it's just that company, there are others.” He assured himself.

He refreshed. Another notification appeared. Then another.

Closed. Closed. Closed.

“Oh my goodness.”

His phone rang. A private number.

“Hello?”

“This is legal,” a voice said. Male. Calm. Detached. “You should not contact company employees.”

“But….I didn’t do anything,” Noah said.

“That will be determined.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

The call ended.

Noah screamed in frustration.

He slid down until he was sitting on the pavement. Cars passed. People laughed somewhere nearby. Life continued.

He opened his email. A new message loaded.

Subject: Industry Compliance Notice.

He opened it with shaking fingers.

“Following recent findings,” he read, “your name has been added to a restricted registry.”

“What registry?” he said.

He scrolled.

“This registry is shared across partner organizations.”

His chest tightened.

“Effective immediately,” he continued, “your eligibility for employment within affiliated industries in the country is suspended.”

Noah stared at the screen, hoping for the words to change…somehow.

The words did not change at all. It stayed the same.

Suspended.

Shared.

Effective immediately.

He tried to call his mentor, Richard.

“ Urghhh….what will I tell him?” He said, confused.

He disconnected the call.

His phone buzzed again.

Unknown Number: This decision is final.

He looked up at the office building. Lights flickered off floor by floor.

Noah lowered his phone slowly, the weight of it unbearable in his hand.

Around him, the city moved as if nothing had happened.

Inside him, something broke.