Every morning, when Alexander Vandervoss drove into the parking structure of Prezelverse's northern Munich headquarters, he marveled at how much money it took to build. The main building was in the center of several other circular symmetrical buildings. The parking structures were located below each building so employees didn't need to brave the harsh winters. Like most technology companies, the buildings were not very tall, the largest being a mere six stories.
Underground paths connected each building so employees didn't need togo outside to get to the next building. Alexander grimaced as his cell phone rang. He hadn't even parked his car and the onslaught of calls had begun. He glanced at his watch; it was 7:23 a.m. Most employees showed up for work around eight. Alexander liked to get to the office early so he could get a coffee and check his email, calendar, and plan accordingly. He looked at the phone as he answered.
“Good morning, Brenna.”
“Are you in your office yet?”
“No, but I'm nearly there.”
“Please call me from your secure line once you are settled in the office. I have some news.”
“Acknowledged,” said Alexander as he terminated the connection.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Brenna was lead legal counsel for Pretzelverse Games, and she worked out of their Washington D.C. office. It must be urgent if she was calling in the middle of the night.
A few minutes later, Alexander pressed the button labeled Brenna on his desk phone. She answered on the second ring. Alexander looked at the LCD screen on the phone where the secure icon was displayed. Calls made from any executive line were always encrypted. As a result, certain audible artifacts could be heard; sometimes it sounded like modulation tones, or garbled gibberish.
“Hello, Brenna.”
“I think we have a problem.”
“What sort of problem?”
“An intellectual property breach as well as some trouble on the Hill.”
“How bad is the breach? Did we get hacked?”
“Didn't get hacked, but Gregor noticed some anomalies on the code repository servers.”
“‘Anomalies on the code repository servers’ sounds like a hack,” Alexander said. “Assemble the team to meet at the cottage within forty-eight hours. Contact dispatch for help.”
“Immediately—but we also have legal trouble with the U.S. Senate,” Brenna said urgently. “A Senate committee has opened an investigation into the expansion. They are expected to vote on it next week.”
“That was fast!”
“It usually takes months for a bill to get through the House and reach the Senate. For some reason, the U.S. Congress fast-tracked it, and voting was completed less than an hour ago,” Brenna said with a very tired voice that Alexander hadn't noticed earlier.
“Deploy your team of lobbyists to Capitol Hill. I need you at the cottage in person,” Alexander demanded, then immediately severed the connection.