Chapter 8 - The Audio Bleed
Clara stopped pacing, tilting her head toward the dark ventilation shaft as a faint, metallic feedback hiss echoed through the boardroom.
"It's just the HVAC system malfunctioning from the storm," Clara dismissed nervously, though her own eyes darted toward the dark opening with growing dread.
"No," Chairman Vance interjected, setting his glass down hard enough to crack the crystal coaster. "That is an active audio transmission frequency. Someone has tapped into the building's master broadcasting system."
Julian dropped his glass, the crystal shattering against the floor as he sprinted toward the wall-mounted control panel near the double doors. He punched in the master administrator code with frantic speed, but the screen flashed a solid, blinding red warning: OVERRIDE REJECTED - SYSTEM BROADCAST IN PROGRESS.
"What have you done, Julian?" Vance roared, his face flushing a furious crimson as he grabbed Julian by the lapel of his dark blue suit. "Who has control of the network?"
Before Julian could answer, the overhead ceiling speakers across the entire floor clicked alive with a loud, piercing screech of audio feedback. Then, clear as day, the entire corporate boardroom echoed with the recorded sound of Julian’s voice from earlier that evening: "We built nothing except a liability. Clara and I are moving forward, and your presence is a permanent threat to our corporate restructuring."
Clara let out a sharp gasp, her hands flying to her mouth as the recording continued to play, broadcasting every single word of their conspiracy to every floor in the tower.
"Turn it off!" Clara screamed, clawing at the wall speakers with her bare hands, completely abandoning her polished composure.
Julian hammered his fists against the digital control panel, but the system had been hard-locked from an external terminal located deep within the basement sub-levels.
"It's looping," Julian breathed, his skin turning ash-gray as he stared at the glowing red screen. "She didn't run away. She planted a secondary transmitter in the master server."
Chairman Vance shoved Julian backward, sending him crashing into the mahogany table with bone-rattling force.
May you like
"You incompetent fools," Vance snarled, his voice trembling with suppressed fury. "You left a loose end, and now it's broadcasting our entire corporate conspiracy to the entire board of directors."
---
