On the other hand, the crowd was on the verge of a full-blown riot.
He had absolutely no idea what was waiting behind those doors. Letting it roll onto the stage blindly wasn't just a slap in The Commodore's face—it was a massive security risk for everyone present.
He was thoroughly trapped, hung out to dry with zero way out.
...
Meanwhile, toward the back of the massive hall.
The Cloaked Figure, who had fiercely bid on the serum earlier, looked absolutely murderous.
Specimen Fourteen.
It actually was Specimen Fourteen!
The specimen was supposed to be in stealth transit! How the hell had it been
dumped into the auction queue?!
Where was the security detail?
"Why hadn't they checked in?!
The man's hands, hidden deep within his dark sleeves, curled into bone-white fists.
Suddenly, the encrypted device strapped beneath his cloak buzzed softly.
He dropped his gaze, using the heavy fabric to mask his movements as he accessed the syndicate's secure channel.
A high-priority flash order from the Obsidian Sun superiors glowed sharply on the screen:
[Abort Specimen Fourteen showcase immediately.]
[Sever The Apex Bio-Transfer Pod life support systems.]
[If extraction is impossible, ensure Specimen Fourteen never opens its eyes again.]
His pupils dilated sharply.
Without a second of hesitation, he palmed the sleek black override remote he had kept hidden.
A faint crimson light pulsed on the device.
His thumb flew across the interface, punching in a heavy-duty bypass code to hijack the pod's telemetry.
If he could just cut the oxygen and stabilizers, the presentation would end immediately.
At the very least... he had to ensure the terrifying secrets buried beneath Specimen Fourteen's skin stayed hidden from this room full of vultures!
[Scanning for target.]
[Target: A.W.S-14.]
[Establishing administrative bypass.]
He stared obsessively at the tiny screen, cold sweat beading at his temples.
Faster. I have to kill the power before it breaches the stage doors!
Connect!
But just as his heart hammered in
his chest, a binding red the plashed across
interface.
[Clearance Denied.]
[Bypass Failed.]
[Current user lacks administrative privileges.]
He froze entirely.
Lacked privileges?
Impossible!
He was holding a high-level emergency terminal hardwired directly to the syndicate's servers!
Even if he couldn't take full manual control he had absolute authority to execute a remote kill switch on the pod!
FindNovel.net
Scowling deeply, he swapped to a secondary infiltration protocol.
Re-authenticating.
Sending the kill code again.
But the result remained infuriatingly the same.
[Bypass Failed.]
[Clearance Revoked.]
[Target's root access has been transferred.]
Again. And again.
Every single command bounced back.
He couldn't even ping the pod's external diagnostics
His fingers dug painfully into his palms beneath his robe.
This was no localized signal jam.
Someone had surgically severed the Obsidian Sun's connection to Specimen Fourteen.
The pod was completely ignoring their entire network!
His breathing turned jagged and heavy.
What the hell was happening?
The syndicate possessed absolute override capabilities for the neural dampeners. The number of people alive who could breach that encryption could be counted on one hand.
Even he had only been granted temporary clearance purely for the extraction.
But now...
The entire syndicate had been locked out of its own asset?