2026-01-21 03:42:45The air in the boardroom was hot and heavy. It smelled like sweat and expensive coffee. On the giant screen at the front of the room, a digital clock counted down.
00:59… 00:58… 00:57.
Jax sat at the main control desk. He was not looking at the crowd. He was looking at his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard. Click-clack-click-clack. He hit the "Enter" key hard.
A red box popped up on his screen. ACCESS DENIED.
"No, no, no," Jax whispered. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. His skin was wet and shiny. He typed again, faster this time. He tried to break through the firewall. He was the CTO. He was supposed to control the system. But the system was fighting back.
"Jax?" a board member asked from the table. "Why is the screen turning red?"
"Quiet!" Jax snapped. He typed a new code.
ACCESS DENIED.
Ronan stood on the stage. He was perfectly still. He looked like he was waiting for a meal, not destroying a billion-dollar company. He watched Jax struggle.
"It is a complex firewall, Jax," Ronan said. His voice was calm. It echoed in the silent room. "You cannot break it. You focused on marketing. I focused on the code."
"Shut up!" Jax yelled. He pulled at his tie. It was too tight. He felt like he couldn't breathe.
00:30… 00:29…
Suddenly, the heavy double doors at the back of the room slammed open. BANG.
Everyone jumped. Heads turned.
A tall man walked in. He had grey hair and wore a dark blue suit that cost more than most people’s cars. It was Mr. Sterling Senior. The Big Boss. Jax’s father.
He did not look happy. His face was red. He walked straight toward the stage. The investors parted like the sea to let him through.
"Ronan!" Mr. Sterling roared.
Jax stopped typing. He looked at his father like a scared little boy. "Dad, I—I can’t stop it."
Mr. Sterling ignored his son. He marched up to Ronan. He stood very close. Mr. Sterling was tall, but Ronan did not step back.
"Stop this program," Mr. Sterling demanded. He pointed a shaking finger at the screen. "Right now."
Ronan looked at the finger, then at Mr. Sterling’s angry eyes. "I cannot do that. The countdown is almost done."
"I will sue you," Mr. Sterling hissed. "I will bury you in court. You signed a contract. This company owns you. If you destroy this launch, I will make sure you spend the rest of your life in a prison cell."
The room was deadly silent. The only sound was the hum of the computers and the heavy breathing of the old man.
Ronan blinked slowly. A small, cold smile touched his lips. It was the first time he had smiled all day.
"You can try to sue me, Mr. Sterling," Ronan said softly. "But you have bigger problems right now."
"There is no bigger problem than you!" Mr. Sterling shouted.
"Check your email," Ronan said.
Mr. Sterling paused. He frowned. "What?"
"Check your email. The personal account. The one you think nobody knows about."
Mr. Sterling froze. His hand went into his pocket. He pulled out his phone. The screen lit up his face. He tapped the glass.
He read the message.
The color drained from Mr. Sterling’s face. He went from red to pale white in one second. His hand started to shake. He looked up at Ronan with pure fear.
"What did you do?" Mr. Sterling whispered.
"Prometheus is a smart program," Ronan explained. He spoke to the room now. "It finds patterns. It found a pattern in the company accounts. It found the money you stole from the investors to pay for your private island."
The investors at the table gasped. They looked at Mr. Sterling.
"That is a lie!" Mr. Sterling yelled, but his voice cracked.
"It is not a lie," Ronan said. "And five minutes ago, Prometheus sent all the proof to the SEC. The government has the files now."
Mr. Sterling dropped his phone. It hit the floor with a crack. He looked like he was going to be sick.
00:05… 00:04…
"No," Jax cried out. He stood up. "Stop it! Cut the power!"
Jax ran to the wall. He grabbed the thick black power cord. He pulled with all his strength.
00:03… 00:02…
The cord came loose. But the screen did not turn off.
00:01… 00:00.
ZERO.
The sound was loud. A deep, digital bass drop that shook the floor.
XZZZZT!
The lights in the room died. Everything went pitch black.
Panic started. People screamed. Chairs scraped against the floor.
"My phone! Use the light!" someone yelled.
Dozens of phone flashlights turned on. They looked like fireflies in a cave. The beams of light pointed at the stage.
The giant screen behind the stage was still on. It was the only thing with power. The bright, colorful logo of Lumina Corp was there. It was a golden sun.
Then, it began to dissolve.
Like dust in the wind, the golden sun broke apart. The pixels flew away. The logo crumbled until there was nothing left but a black screen.
Then, four white letters appeared.
Z E R O
A phone rang in the crowd. Then another. Then ten more.
"The stock!" a woman shouted. She held her tablet up. "Look at the line! It’s falling straight down!"
"Sell! Sell everything!" a man screamed into his phone.
"We lost sixty percent in ten seconds!" another voice cried.
Chaos took over the room. People were running for the doors. Mr. Sterling Senior was sitting on the floor, holding his head in his hands. Jax was staring at the blank wall, his mouth open.
But Ronan was still there.
He stood in the dark, illuminated only by the white light of the word ZERO. He leaned forward. He tapped the microphone.
Tap. Tap.
The sound boomed over the speakers. The room went quiet for a second. They all looked at the man in the black t-shirt.
"The company isn't gone," Ronan’s voice whispered through the dark room. It sounded like a ghost. "The building is here. The desks are here. The money is…the money is gone."
He adjusted his glasses.
"I just took back my creation. I took back my code," Ronan said. "Lumina is now just an empty shell."
He turned his back on them and walked into the shadows.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 10: Foundation
The neon sign outside the window buzzed like an angry fly. Bzzzt. Click. Bzzzt.Elena hated that sound. She hated the smell of the room, which was like old wet towels and stale smoke. She hated the peeling yellow wallpaper. Most of all, she hated that this was her life now.Three days ago, she was the queen of the city. She had a penthouse, a limousine, and millions of dollars. Now, she was in room 204 of the Sunset Motel."Elena, please sit down," Jax said. He sat on the edge of the lumpy bed. His expensive suit was wrinkled. He looked ten years older than he did last week. "We are out on bail. We are lucky to be here."Elena did not sit. She paced back and forth on the stained carpet. Her hair was messy. Her eyes were wide and red. She looked like a trapped animal."Lucky?" she snapped. She pointed a shaking finger at the door. "They took my company, Jax! They froze my accounts. The news calls me a fraud. I have nothing.""We have our freedom," Jax whispered. "Let’s just run. We can
Chapter 9: The New King
The air outside the Grand Lumina Hotel smelled like burning plastic and expensive perfume. Black smoke rose into the night sky. It looked like a dark stain against the moon.Ronan pushed open the heavy side door. He stepped out onto the cold pavement. The noise hit him instantly. Sirens screamed from every direction. Red and blue lights flashed, blinding anyone who looked directly at them.A crowd had gathered behind the yellow police tape. There were hundreds of them. Reporters held cameras high above their heads. They shouted questions that no one answered."Is the CEO inside?" one reporter yelled."Did the servers explode?" asked another.Ronan walked straight toward them. He wore a faded black hoodie and jeans. He kept his head down. His hands were deep in his pockets.To the crowd, he was nobody. He was just a scared guest escaping the fire. A cameraman actually shoved Ronan’s shoulder to get a better shot of the burning building."Move, kid! You're blocking the view!" the camera
Chapter 8: Served Cold
The lights in the penthouse office died instantly. A heavy click echoed through the room, followed by the low hum of the backup generator.Suddenly, red emergency lights flashed on. They bathed the luxury suite in a bloody, pulsing glow. The shadows in the corners grew long and twisted.Jax jumped back. His confident smile vanished. "What did you do, Ronan?" he shouted. His voice cracked a little.Ronan stood by the window. He did not move. He did not blink. The red light washed over his face, but he looked like a statue made of ice. He looked down at the street below."Listen," Ronan said softly.From far away, the sound grew louder. Wail. Wail. Wail.Sirens. Many of them.Jax let out a nervous laugh. He adjusted his expensive tie, trying to look brave. "You hear that? That is for you, little brother. I told you. You lost. They are coming to take you away for fraud."Ronan turned slowly. He put his hands in his pockets. He looked relaxed. "Are they?"Elena was sitting at the heavy oa
Chapter 7: The Crash
The air in the boardroom was hot and heavy. It smelled like sweat and expensive coffee. On the giant screen at the front of the room, a digital clock counted down.00:59… 00:58… 00:57.Jax sat at the main control desk. He was not looking at the crowd. He was looking at his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard. Click-clack-click-clack. He hit the "Enter" key hard.A red box popped up on his screen. ACCESS DENIED."No, no, no," Jax whispered. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. His skin was wet and shiny. He typed again, faster this time. He tried to break through the firewall. He was the CTO. He was supposed to control the system. But the system was fighting back."Jax?" a board member asked from the table. "Why is the screen turning red?""Quiet!" Jax snapped. He typed a new code.ACCESS DENIED.Ronan stood on the stage. He was perfectly still. He looked like he was waiting for a meal, not destroying a billion-dollar company. He watched Jax struggle."It is a comp
Chapter 6: Panic in the Penthouse
The air in the luxury penthouse was cold, but the people inside were sweating. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling like frozen rain. Below them, twenty of the city’s richest investors held glasses of expensive champagne. They wore Italian suits and fake smiles.Ronan stood near the window. He looked calm. He wore a simple black suit that made him look like a shadow in the bright room. Next to him, Elena stood tall. She wore a dress the color of blood. She looked like a queen, but her eyes were darting around the room. She was nervous."Ladies and gentlemen," Elena said, raising her glass. Her voice was smooth like silk. "Forget the drama. Today, we launch the new system. Today, we double your wealth."The investors clapped. They liked money.Then, Ronan touched his phone. He did not look at it. He just tapped the screen once.On the giant wall monitor, the green line stopped. It froze.A loud beep echoed through the room. It sounded like a hospital heart monitor when a patient
Chapter 5: Source Code
The feedback noise was like a knife in every ear.Screech!The high-pitched sound blasted through the massive speakers of the Grand Hall. Investors covered their ears. Expensive champagne glasses shattered on the floor."Cut it!" Elena screamed from the side of the stage. Her face was twisted with panic. She pointed at the sound booth in the back. "Cut the mic! Turn it off now!"Inside the glass booth, the technician was frantically hitting buttons. He looked terrified. He pressed the master power switch, but the lights on his board stayed green. He grabbed his walkie-talkie. "I can't, Ms. Elena! The system is locked out. I have no control!""Pull the plug!" Elena yelled, her voice barely audible over the screeching noise."It’s not the hardware!" the technician yelled back, his face pale. "It’s the software. Prometheus… it has taken full control of the building. It won’t let me in!"Suddenly, the screeching stopped.It didn't fade away. It cut to total silence instantly.The silence
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