Natasha attempted to contact Alexei, but his assistant informed her that he was unavailable. She contacted Viktor instead.

“There is a problem with assignments that are being sent to interns. Something is wrong. Dispatch is redacting, canceling, or amending assignments.”

The Collective’s systems had worked for years without so much as a hiccup. Viktor suspected that Gregor was behind this somehow.

Based on the security access data, the interns produced a model where Gregor was in the 99th percentile as being a person of interest in the database hack.

Viktor picked up the phone and called the Cray Group, an independent research firm that specialized in big data analysis.

“Hello, I’m making an inquiry of a big data report that I requested over a week ago.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Please hold, Sir.”

Viktor checked the time in California where the group was based. It was well within business hours, so he felt confident.

“Viktor?”

“I’m here.”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Anderson. I’m in charge of the group that is doing the analysis.”

“Why is it taking so long to get the results?”

“We are actually finishing your report now, but it will be several more days until it’s completed.”

“Is the analysis part done?”

“Yes. It just takes time for a writer to finish the report. I wouldn’t consider it complete until that happens.”

“Doctor, I need the data. You need to send me an unofficial report, no matter how crude it looks. Immediately.”

“That’s not our policy!”

“I don’t care about your policy. My boss is looking to eliminate an ongoing threat.”

“I see. Hold, please.”

After several more minutes, the doctor finally agreed to send an unofficial report to Viktor by the end of his day. That would be very late for Viktor, but he had little choice. He would wait.