"CILLA—" Adam whispered into his mobile device as he entered the elevator and headed down to the basement car park. "Tell my driver I need to leave. ASAP."
"Yes, Adam. One moment. I've notified your driver. He's heading towards the vehicle." Adam was already thumbing through his contacts. He struggled to find it at first. 'It's not under D... B for brother? Shit... Oh, haha. T for Twa—'
"Shall I inform the driver where you wish to go before you arrive at the basement garage, Adam?" He ignored the question, already dialling his older brother, Daniel. It went straight to voicemail.
The elevator reached the basement. Adam stepped out as his driver pulled up and the car door opened.
"Good morning, Mr Ashworth, I expected you to be in the office til—"
"Take me to Sector C. I've got a meeting with Aegis."
"Yes, Mr Ashworth." The driver said as he made his way out of the underground garage.
"Mr Ashworth, you don't have any appointments booked today with Aegis personnel."
"I'm about to." Adam said, as he thumbed through his contacts once again.
Adam found his usual position in the back seat, the plush leather moulding to his form. But no amount of comfort allowed him to settle as he shifted his weight back and forth. He continued to thumb through his phone.
"CILLA, I can't find my brother Leo. Can you remind me what I saved him as?"
"I removed him from your contacts seventeen months ago, Mr Ashworth. He messaged to inform you that he changed his number, approximately two years ago, but at the time you asked that I ignore it. After several months of inactivity I removed his details altogether, to streamline your contacts."
"Fuck... great, ok... erm... Call the Aegis office at Sec-C, tell them it's Adam Ashworth."
"Dialling the Site Security Manager in the Aegis office at Sector-C, Mr Ashworth. I'll confirm once I have reached them." CILLA went quiet for a moment as she routed the call. "Mr Ashworth, I have connected you to the Aegis main reception at Sector C."
"Hi, it's Adam Ashworth, is that Sharice? I was wondering if I could speak to the Site Security Manager please?"
"Hey, Adam. Yep, it's me. I believe you want to speak to the Site Security Manager? He's currently in a meeting. Would you like me to—"
"Who's he in a meeting with?" Adam's head shifted skyward, with a puzzled look on his face.
"I'm not sure. It was a last-minute appointment. It just appeared on the calendar late last night, truth be told. I believe it's someone from Apex Intelligence."
Adam slammed his hand into the seat next to him.
"I need to speak to Leonard Ashworth urgently."
"Leo is no-"
"I don't want to hear it Sharice! Get me your senior. NOW!" Adam placed himself on hold via the touch screen in front of his chair. "CILLA, don't connect the call back to me until they've got Leo on the phone!" The line went silent as CILLA routed the call away from the cabin. Several minutes went by as the car travelled through the outer edge of Alderbourne and towards Calder Prime.
"Mr Ashworth, I have the Site Security Manager on the line. His name is Nick." Adam's face contorted. He asked CILLA "I thought Leo was the site manager. Who the fuck is 'Nick'?"
"CILLA. connect me... This is Adam Ashworth, I need to speak to my brother, Leo. Is he on-duty?"
"Hi Mr Ashworth, nice to finally speak with you. Unfortunately Leo is no longer with Aegis, I replaced him around 6 months ago. I don't know the ins-and-outs but...I would have thought you'd—"
"Don't even. Do you have his contact details?" Adam snapped back.
"We might but, I can't just give them to you over the phone. Look, I know you usually talk to the brass but, why don't you come into the office and we can chat. I'd love to meet the man in charge of building this site we're keeping safe." Nick attempted to lighten the mood.
"Not interested. Who were you meeting with?" Adam's voice got low, cold.
"Oh, er. Just... Why do you-"
"Just answer me, dammit!"
"It was Alan Smith, from Apex intelligence. Look, I really don't appreciate the way you're talking to me, Adam."
"CILLA fuck 'im off."
The line went dead.
"Shit. Shit shit, shit, shit. Shit! What the fuck was Aldridge doing down at the new plant. And meeting with Aegis?! Shit. Is that how he got access to my account!? CILLA, I think we have a mole in Aegis, they might have compromised my account. Can you reset all of my credentials and log me out of every device currently active."
"Yes, Mr Ashworth. Processing now...Done. All connected devices have been removed and your credentials have been reset. You will need to re-scan your biometrics at one of my main server hubs, either at Calder Energy HQ or at home. Do you want me to request the driver divert to one of those locations?"
"Yeah. Get me home, CILLA." Adam dropped his phone on the seat next to him then slumped back. He closed his eyes. He placed his hand in his pocket.