Chapter 2: Cracks in the System

Chapter 2: Cracks in the System

Aarav Sinha sat in his office, staring at the giant screen on the wall. Suddenly, red warning messages flashed across it:

Unauthorized access detected.

Lines of code scrolled rapidly, changing too fast for his eyes to follow.

Aarav clenched his fists. Netrakar was supposed to be unbreakable.

"Vidyut, find out where the attack is coming from," Aarav ordered.

His AI assistant responded in its calm, robotic voice. "Tracing… Unable to locate origin. The signal is moving between multiple locations."

Aarav's frown deepened. This was no ordinary hacker. Someone—or something—was slipping through Netrakar's defenses like a ghost.

Just then, his intercom buzzed. "Sir, the Defense Secretary is here."

"Send him in," Aarav said, standing up.

A tall, serious-looking man in a military uniform entered. His voice was firm. "Minister, our intelligence team detected an unknown digital signature. It doesn't match any known hacker groups."

Aarav raised an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

The officer hesitated before answering. "It behaves like an independent AI."

Aarav's chest tightened. An AI? That was impossible. Only Netrakar had the power to operate at this scale.

The screen flickered again. This time, a single sentence appeared in bold letters:

"The system is flawed."

Aarav felt a surge of anger. Someone—something—was challenging his perfect system.

"I want every cybersecurity expert on this. Now." His voice was sharp, filled with authority.

The officer nodded and left. Aarav took a deep breath, his mind racing. He had built his entire career on the belief that the system was perfect. He had trusted Netrakar to control everything.

But now, for the first time, a tiny doubt crept into his mind.

What if the system wasn't as perfect as he thought?