Chapter 8 - The Hostile Takeover
"Keep reading," Marcus whispered from the shadows.
"As of this moment," Croft choked out, "I am stepping down as CEO of Aura. I am surrendering all voting shares and complete ownership of the source code back to its rightful creator... Marcus Vance."
Marcus hit a key on his laptop. The legal transfer documents, pre-signed by Croft’s digital signature, were instantly fired off to the SEC and Croft’s board of directors. The hostile takeover was complete.
Marcus stopped the recording and cut the feed. The screens around the pool went black.
Croft slumped back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. "It's done. You have it all. Now kill the worm. Save the code."
Marcus typed a rapid sequence of commands. The glowing red code on the screen flashed bright green. THREAT NEUTRALIZED. ENCRYPTION LIFTED.
"The code is safe," Marcus said, zipping his laptop back into his canvas bag. "And the backdoors are permanently sealed. Aura is finally the secure network I designed it to be. Just without you."
The sound of police sirens began to wail in the distance, echoing up the winding roads of the Hollywood Hills. Marcus’s broadcast had done exactly what it was meant to do.
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Briggs, the head of security, looked at Croft, then at Marcus. With a heavy sigh, the mercenary holstered his weapon. "My contract was voided the second he confessed to a felony. I'm not going down for this."
Briggs and the other guards walked out of the office, leaving Croft entirely alone with the man he had wronged.
