Chapter 204

Chapter 204:

Markers that will activate when opened on another device.”

“When will you deploy this?” Victoria asked.

“Tonight,” Hannah replied. “Walsh always accesses the system between 2:00 and 3:00 AM on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.”

For the next hour, the three women constructed an elaborate deception. They identified a junction box in the Grid’s western sector that would appear vulnerable based on the false data, though it was actually one of the most secure points in the system.

“Any attempt to exploit this vulnerability would be immediately contained and would identify exactly who was behind it,” Camille explained.

Victoria’s eyes gleamed with appreciation. “This isn’t just about defending anymore. This is about setting a trap, forcing them to expose themselves.”

“They’ve been dictating the terms of this battle from the beginning,” Camille said. “This is our chance to reverse the dynamic.”

Victoria approved the plan. As Hannah left to implement it, Victoria gestured for Camille to remain.

“You’re changing,” Victoria observed. “The woman I found eighteen months ago would never have conceived of such a strategy. She would have reacted with immediate retribution.”

Camille nodded. “That woman was defined by her wounds, her need for direct revenge.”

“And now?”

“Now I understand that true power isn’t about immediate satisfaction. It’s about patience. Strategy. Control.” Camille met Victoria’s gaze. “You taught me that.”

Something shifted in Victoria’s expression—pride, perhaps. “When I found you in that parking garage, I saw potential. Raw strength that others had tried to break. But even I didn’t anticipate how completely you would transform.”

The rare personal acknowledgment caught Camille off guard. “You gave me the tools,” she said simply.

Victoria shook her head slightly. “Tools are useless without the right person wielding them. What you’ve become, that’s your own creation.”

That night, Camille and Hannah watched as Walsh logged into their system remotely at 2:00 AM. He navigated through files, spending nearly twenty minutes examining the fabricated vulnerability reports.

“He’s copying them,” Hannah noted. “The trackers are embedded. When those files are opened, we’ll know exactly where.”

At 2:47 AM, Walsh logged out, having downloaded precisely the information they wanted Rose and Herod to have.

“Now we wait,” Camille said. “Let’s see what Rose does with her new ‘intelligence.'”

Hannah smiled. “It’s like watching a mouse approach the cheese, not realizing the trap is about to spring.”

“No,” Camille corrected. “It’s like watching a snake slither toward what it thinks is a wounded bird, not realizing the bird is actually a predator in disguise.”

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