Chapter 6 - The Confession
"There is a webcam mounted on the top of that monitor," Marcus said, not moving his hand from the laptop. "In exactly five minutes, the IPO live stream is scheduled to broadcast to millions of investors worldwide. You are going to look into that camera, and you are going to read the statement I just loaded onto the teleprompter."
Croft looked at the screen. The text was a full, unredacted confession. It detailed his theft of the code, his framing of Marcus, and his treasonous intent to sell user data to foreign entities.
"If I read this, I go to federal prison for the rest of my life," Croft whispered, tears of terror welling in his eyes.
"If you don't read it, the code is destroyed, your investors lose billions, and the Russian syndicates you borrowed money from to fund this launch will hunt you down and skin you alive," Marcus replied coldly. "Prison is the safest place for you right now, Sterling."
Croft buried his face in his hands, sobbing. The man who had walked across the party like a god was now a pathetic, trembling shell.
"Three minutes," Marcus warned, his eyes locked on the digital clock ticking down on the screen.
"Sir," Briggs said quietly, his hand still on his weapon. "We can physically sever the hardline. Cut the power to the house."
"The worm is already in the offshore servers, you idiot!" Croft screamed at his own guard. "Cutting the power here will just trigger the failsafe! We're trapped!"
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Croft slowly pulled himself up, using the edge of the mahogany desk. He looked at his own reflection in the dark glass window. He was ruined.
"Two minutes," Marcus said. "Sit in the chair, Sterling. It's time to face your audience."
