CRACKS AND CODE

SOMETHING SOLID

Makori Logistics Headquarters,
11:20 am.

Curtis was already in Maxwell's office, files spread across the desk, when Joseph burst in, breathless.

"Sir,you need to see this." He turned his tablet toward them.
Kaitu's face filled the screen, confident and radiant beneath stage lights.
"She's all over the news," Joseph said. "She's launching a new cybersecurity app for Makori Logistics."

Curtis and Max locked eyes. For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Maxwell's chair scraped against the floor. "For Makori Logistics?" He shook his head. "That doesn't make sense," he muttered. "She's working against us, not for us."

Joseph blinked, glancing between them. "Sir, that's... not true."

Maxwell frowned. "What do you mean, not true?"

Joseph turned the tablet back toward them, scrolling. "She's actually working for us. What she just did, it's genius. She just single-handedly solved all the problems we've been facing this year. The hackers behind the breach that has been affecting us have been traced."

Max: "Traced? Where?"

Joseph: "Straight back to their network. Law enforcement's moving in as we speak. The honeypot she designed didn't just trace the hackers, it forced a live feed from one of their terminals. We have faces. "

Max's head snapped up. "Show me."
Joseph tapped his screen, and grainy security cam footage filled the tablet, two men hunched over laptops in a dim apartment, clearly panicking. One of them was already on a phone call, voice raised.

"Why would she be doing all these behind my back? What if she got hurt in the process? Kaitu... you'll be the end of me."

Maxwell's pulse quickened. "Where is she?"

Joseph looked up. "Serena Hotel ballroom."

Maxwell grabbed his keys. "I'm heading there right now."
______________________________________

Meanwhile at Serena hotel:

The Serena Hotel ballroom was alive with press, investors, and officials. The air buzzed with expectation.

Kaitu stood at the podium, blazer crisp, laptop glowing. Calm on the outside, fire on the inside.

"Makori Logistics has faced many storms," she began, her voice carrying. "But instead of breaking, we built."

Behind her, the projector showed live code, hackers slipping deeper into what they thought was the company's system.

"What they don't know," Kaitu continued, "is that they're not in our system. They're in a mirror environment designed to capture everything; every keystroke, every IP, every identity."

Gasps filled the room. Cameras clicked.

On the screen, the hackers' chat collapsed one by one. Connection terminated. All activities logged.

Applause roared through the hall. Kaitu smiled, heart swelling. Now Max will see. Now Curtis will understand. They'll know I never betrayed them. She thought.

Professor Kazwe clapped firmly from the side. Joseph texted: Flawless.

Kaitu stepped back from the podium to thunderous applause, certain she had finally proven herself.

The applause still echoed in her ears when the doors slammed open.

Max.

He strode in, eyes fixed on her like a blade. The crowd shifted, murmurs rippling.