Chapter 29 Digital Dueling
Connor Haxton's fingers flew across the keyboard, his face bathed in the blue glow of multiple monitors. For someone ranked tenth among darknet hackers, this should have been a routine trace. Five minutes, he'd promised.
It had been twenty.
The screen suddenly flashed red, a warning window popping up: "TARGET DEVICE ACTIVATED ADVANCED FIREWALL."
"Shit," Connor muttered, his confidence wavering. He'd managed to bypass the initial defenses, narrowing the location down to Cloud City, but something felt off. Way off. The encryption architecture wasn't standard—it had elements he'd only seen in military-grade systems, yet with custom modifications that spoke of individual brilliance rather than institutional development.
Ethan glanced at his watch. "Problem?"
"Nothing I can't handle." Connor's voice betrayed his uncertainty as he initiated another attack vector. Sweat beaded along his hairline as he deployed three different infiltration protocols simultaneously. His brow furrowed as he stared at the encryption protocols appearing on his screen. "Just... this is unexpected. Whoever set up this system knows what they're doing. Like, really knows."
When Connor tried to narrow the location further, his eyes widened. "Interesting..."
"What is it?" Ethan leaned closer, the light from the screen highlighting his sharp features.
"The system is adapting to my approach. It's almost like..." Connor hesitated, professional pride making the admission difficult. "Like it's anticipating me."
---
Max Morgan limped back inside from the backyard, where he'd been testing a new solar panel design. His latest experiment hadn't yielded the results he'd hoped for, but that was science—trial and error. The mid-morning sun had left him sweaty and tired, but his mind was already racing with adjustments for his next attempt.
When he opened his laptop to record his findings, he found it unresponsive. The screen displayed a menacing red warning and black skull icon. No amount of clicking or key-pressing helped.
"No, no, no," he whispered, panic rising in his chest. The laptop Jade had bought him cost more than anything he'd ever owned. Had he broken it already?
After one more failed reboot attempt, he grabbed the computer and hurried to Jade's room, knocking tentatively.
---
Jade had just returned from her morning run, sweat still beading on her forehead. She was calculating how many more weeks of training she'd need to reach her previous physical peak when Max knocked.
"Come in," she called, toweling off her face. Her muscles pleasantly ached from the five-mile run—still nowhere near her former capacity, but improving daily.
Max entered, clutching his laptop like it might shatter. His eyes were wide with worry, his knuckles white against the device's silver case. "Something's wrong with my computer."
Jade took one look at the screen and smirked. "Been browsing sites you shouldn't, little brother?"
Max's face turned crimson. "What? No! I was just—I didn't—"
Jade laughed and took the laptop. "Relax, I'm messing with you." Her fingers danced across the keyboard, bypassing the frozen screen to access the system diagnostics with a series of commands that made Max's eyebrows rise in admiration. Her playful expression hardened as she scanned the data.
"This isn't a virus," she said, her voice cooling. "Someone's actively attacking your device. Right now."
"What? Why would anyone—"
"Don't worry. I installed firewalls and anti-tracking programs on all your devices when I first set them up." Jade's eyes narrowed as she opened a terminal window. Lines of code reflected in her dark irises. "Let's see who our uninvited guest is."
---
In Ethan's Manhattan penthouse, Connor's confident demeanor had evaporated. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his fingers raced across the keyboard. The quiet hum of the air conditioning couldn't cool the rising heat of frustration and concern.
"It's been twenty minutes," Ethan noted, his patience wearing thin. "Any progress?"
"They noticed the intrusion," Connor said, his voice tight. "Not only did they strengthen their firewall, but they've broken through my defenses." He looked up, face pale. "Our system is being reverse-tracked."
Ethan frowned. "Meaning?"
"Someone's following our digital breadcrumbs back to us." Connor swallowed hard. "Whoever this is, they're not just good—they're elite."
---
Jade's laptop displayed an intricate map of intersecting lines, with a blinking red dot at the center. Her screen split into multiple windows, each showing different aspects of the attack and counterattack in progress.
"What's that?" Max asked, peering over her shoulder, fascinated despite his concern.
"Our attacker's location." Jade zoomed in on the map, her expression focused and intense. "New York."
"New York?" Max's eyes widened. "Why would someone from New York hack my laptop?"
Jade's lips curved into a thin smile. "Princeton. Your physics forum post is drawing attention." She typed a rapid series of commands, deploying digital countermeasures that would have impressed the most seasoned cybersecurity experts.
"But why would Princeton hack me?" Max's voice rose slightly.
"Because they want to know who solved their unsolvable problem." Jade cracked her knuckles, a habit from her previous life. "Not very polite of them, is it? Let's return the favor."
---
Ethan took over from Connor, removing his expensive watch and setting it aside before his fingers took command of the keyboard. Despite the situation, a smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"You're enjoying this," Connor observed, incredulous.
"It's been a while since I've had a worthy opponent." Ethan's green eyes sparkled with intensity as he deployed a series of specialized attacks. "Whoever this is, they're good. Very good."
---
Jade noticed the shift immediately. "They've switched players," she murmured, adjusting her approach to counter the new threat.
"What do you mean?" Max hovered anxiously.
"Our first opponent was decent—probably that hacker who goes by Q, ranked tenth in the darknet." Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "But this new player is different. Faster, more intuitive. They think three moves ahead."
She deployed a countermeasure, watching the attack patterns shift in response.
---
Ethan employed a digital sleight of hand, creating a diversion while inserting a tracer program through a backdoor. "Got it," he muttered triumphantly. "Cloud City, eastern district."
But his victory was short-lived. Warning alerts cascaded across his screen as his own webcam activated without permission. Ethan quickly covered the lens with his hand, but not before the camera captured his custom-tailored suit and the edge of his belt.
"Impossible," Connor breathed. "They turned our own system against us."
---
Jade smiled as the grainy webcam footage appeared on her screen. The man had covered the camera quickly, but not before she glimpsed his expensive suit and, more importantly, the black spider tattoo on the first knuckle of his right index finger.
"Gotcha," she whispered, saving the image to a secure folder.
Max fidgeted beside her. "So... did you stop them?"
"For now." Jade closed the laptop. "Better delete that forum post, though."
Max looked crestfallen. "But it has over twelve thousand likes and six thousand comments and shares. People are really interested in your solution."
Jade shrugged. "I don't need the offer, Max. You know that."
Max nodded reluctantly and returned to his room to delete the post, leaving Jade alone with her thoughts and a growing curiosity about the man with the spider tattoo.