Page 59 of Knight

“Far enough.” I check the area one final time. “Stay close, and watch your footing.”

The early morning sun is warm on my back as we pick our way through tall grass and broken concrete. Sweat darkens the back of her shirt, but she doesn’t complain. Her determination would be admirable, if it wasn’t so fucking frustrating. Every step she takes reminds me that she’s my responsibility now. She’s my problem to solve. My fucking glitch in the matrix.

The safehouse comes into view after forty minutes of walking. An abandoned storage facility that looks like it hasn’t been touched in decades. Perfect camouflage for a place that’s anything but abandoned inside.

“Thisis safer?” She eyes the rusted metal walls dubiously.

“Appearances are deceptive.” I lead her to a hidden keypad, and enter a code. “Like someone breaking into my apartment looked harmless, yet they were carrying a weapon.”

She sighs. I hide a smile. Needling her is fast becoming a favorite passtime. I don’t want to look too deeply into the reasons.

“I didn’t know about the phone.”

“I’m aware.” The door clicks open.

The interior looks exactly like it should—dusty, abandoned, forgotten. But behind a false wall, I’ve got everything we need for now. Generator power, basic amenities, and most importantly, a hardened laptop that has never touched an outside network.

A small gasp escapes her, when the false wall slides back revealing everything inside.

“There’s water in the cooler.” I unlock the metal storage cabinet and take out the laptop, carry it over to the table, and boot it up. Once the screen comes to life, I plug in the flash drive.

She pulls up a chair, close enough to see the screen, and I glance over at her. The walk here has brought color to her cheeks, making her look less fragile. Less like someone I need to protect. I shut that down. The thought is dangerous.

"What are you looking for?"

“Repeated patterns, messages in the code.” The logs start scrolling as I input commands. “When Victor sets tests, he leaves breadcrumbs. I just need to find them.”

Hours pass as I dig through the data. It’s easier to focus on the laptop instead of the tablet, but no less simple to sift through the information. My eyes are burning from staring at the screen, but I can’t stop. My gut is telling me that there is something here, hidden in the sequences. The crude assault style was masking something else—a mathematical progression that seems familiar, but just out of reach.

“There.” I highlight a section, ignoring the fact I’m bringing her into my world. “Look at the timing between these breaches.”

She leans closer, her shoulder brushing mine. “What am I looking at?”

“A signature.” I expand the sequence. “Victor used to make me solve puzzles like this. Mathematical progressions hidden in code. Each solution leads to the next clue.”

“What is this one telling you?”

“Coordinates maybe. Or …” I stop as another pattern emerges. The numbers align in a way that raises the hair on the back of my neck. “Son of a bitch.”

"What?"

“It’s a warning.” My eyes jump from line to line. “The attack wasn’t meant to destroy my systems completely. It was meant to force me away from them, and look into the logs. To find this.”

“But how did he know you’d bring it with you?”

“Because he’d have disowned me as his student if I hadn’t made sure I took it.”

She shifts closer. “What is the warning?”

“That someone is watching my properties.” I highlight another sequence. “These numbers … they’re surveillance coordinates. Times. Dates. Victor is telling me I’m being monitored, and have been for months.”

“But why would he tell you?”

I blow out a breath. “That’s going to be part of the puzzle he wants me to solve. Is it Victor who’s monitoring me or someone else?”

“Like who?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” I lean back, mind picking apart everything I’ve learned so far. “Victor knows enough about my methods to be able to breach my security. But if he just wanted to let me know he’s still alive, and see if I’ve become complacent, this is extreme, even for him.”

---