Red Skies | The Prime Archives #1 ✓

seven

Emily hated secrets—especially after what happened the last time she told someone one of hers.

She also despised authority and being told what to do. Her father was to blame for that particular trait.

So, it wasn't really a surprise when she found herself wanting to figure out whatever it was Director Shaw was hiding from them. He didn't seem too disturbed about Kismet's actions. In fact, he spoke as if he had the entire thing under control. If that was the case, she was willing to bet he and his agents knew where Kane was going to strike next.

She just didn't know when. Or where.

Which is why she developed an ingenious plan to find solutions to those two variables.

When she first arrived at The Acropolis, she and the others were given a tour of the place. It was nestled in the center of a partially hollowed mountain that used to be a mining center during the 1800s. A waterfall shrouded the main entrance—it could even be seen from the windows towards the front of the compound.

During the tour, they had passed a room labeled 'The Watchtower'. Their guide, who had just been an agent on their break, gave a brief description of the place. It was Atlas' hub of intelligence; their network of satellites reported expansive data to the servers which fed into the supercomputers inside. They also had access to almost every network on the planet. If they wanted to, they could facially recognize a person from a grainy online video within twenty minutes.

It was the perfect place to find information on just about anything.

There was only one issue; only certain people were allowed inside.

She quickly learned that everyone carried a key card with them. One was given to her and the other a few days after she arrived. The cards gave people access to various parts of the facility. However, the devices weren't universal. Some rooms were only available to agents above a certain level.

The Watchtower was one of those rooms. It was only accessible by agents' level four and above. Emily and the others were only level one.

For anyone else, that would've shot down their ideas of getting inside. But it only made Emily want to try harder. A few minutes before, she managed to nick a key card off one of the guys who just ended their shift in The Watchtower. They would notice their card was missing soon, meaning she only had a few minutes to find what she needed.

Just in case someone decided to enter the room while she searched, she asked Andre to serve as her lookout. Though, since most of the agents were retiring to their quarters for the night, that happening was highly unlikely.

She and Andre were currently on their way there. A few agents passed by them in the corridors. No one paid them much attention. If anyone asked what they were doing out their rooms this late, she'd just say they were exploring the base.

Moments later, they arrived at their destination.

A silver door stood between them and the inside of The Watchtower. A small window in the center revealed the darkness within the room. Blinking lights from the server racks on the right side caught Emily's eye. The amount of hardware they had was impressive. The servers alone must have cost thousands.

In fact, The Acropolis itself must've cost millions to build.

She began to wonder where Pearce Shaw got all his money from.

''Ready?'' Andre asked her. He was a man of few words. Throughout the four years she'd seen him around school, she couldn't recall a time where he said a full sentence.

Nodding, she retrieved her stolen key card—the name and picture on the rectangle revealed it was from a man named Dennis—and swiped it against the scanner.