Hunter arrived at the cottage an hour after Dahlia’s call. The sun was just rising. Hunter glanced at the barn just behind the house, recalling all the fun and painful memories he’d had there as a child. His father, Sarrin, had taught him how to fight in that barn. Sarrin would pit Hunter against boys his own age. Hunter didn’t know where his father caught the boys, but if they weren’t killed during the training, they were beaten. Sometimes, Sarrin would end the boy himself if he felt Hunter needed to learn a lesson. When this happened, he made Hunter dispose of the body.
When Hunter entered the cottage, he could smell fresh scones. If Black Iris is under attack, why is my mom baking? Hunter thought.
“Come here. We need to talk,” Dahlia called from the kitchen.
That’s Mom: direct and to the point!
Hunter entered the kitchen area. Jony was already seated with his computer at the kitchen table, eating a scone.
“Are we not having a proper English breakfast?” Hunter said.
Dahlia gave Hunter a murderous glance. He wasn’t afraid of much, but he feared his mother’s gaze.
“We’ve been busy, dear,” Dahlia said.
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Hunter took his place at the table and took a scone out of the basket as his mother explained the previous evening’s activities. Dahlia placed a particular emphasis on Jony completing tasks that Hunter should have been doing.
“We would’ve been a lot better off if you’d answered your damn phone. Instead, the entire evening almost went all to pot,” Dahlia said.
“What do you need me to do?” Hunter asked.
“What is the condition of our servers?”
Hunter’s eyes widened.
“I thought it best to head straight down,” Hunter said.
“Jony has already checked our servers, and the main bounty board remains intact. We had to shift some funds about to cover the deposits on bounties. He has also checked the security and integrity of our supporting infrastructure. They have attacked us on multiple fronts. Most of our servers in North America are unresponsive,” Dahlia explained.
“What about the servers in Eastern Europe?”
“I was getting to that! Most European delivery servers, the ones responsible for our client’s data, are slow but operational. Our deep storage facilities are offline and therefore have experienced no disruption.”
“I want Gregor’s head. After reviewing the Design Center’s facility logs, Jony believes that Gregor was behind that attack. After we have our meal, you need to prepare to travel to his location,” Dahlia said.
“In America?”
“Not sure yet. According to surveillance footage around the FBI facility in Haven where Gregor was held, he was picked up by someone else.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know. Jony tracked the car’s movements to Eastward International Airport, and now he’s working on hacking into the cameras in and around the terminals. In the meantime, I need you to contact all the Black Iris cells. It has been too quiet since the attack. We need to arrange an online meeting to regroup,” Dahlia said.