The rain beat against the large panoramic kitchen window as Adam stared out into the garden. A bottle of wine in his hand, shards of glass scattered across the marble countertop behind him after he dropped it in his drunken state. Beyond the pane stretched his meticulously landscaped garden, a serene oasis of neatly trimmed hedges and vibrant flowers. All entirely synthetic.
His mobile phone vibrated, nudging the expensive Italian coffee machine on every third pulse. Adam gave it a momentary glance before turning back to face the rain as he took another gulp of wine. After several moments, Adam moved to the sliding glass doors that lead out into the garden. He reached out to grab the handle, but then hesitated as he hovered over it. His arm dropped to his side as he placed his forehead on the cold, smooth glass. His phone vibrated again.
As Adam turned, he cast his gaze around his lavish kitchen. It was his favourite room in the entire house, especially when he compared it to the home he grew up in; a tiny six foot square kitchen with a sink, slim fridge and a corner table that he and his two brothers would sit at to eat. Now, his kitchen was grand, larger than his mum and dad's entire house, with surfaces made from some of the most expensive materials and soft lighting to show it off. It was all just a prop, an elaborate dream home on loan from Calder Energy. And this prick said thank you for the gift and continued to pay for it.
Once the wine bottle was empty, Adam returned to the kitchen island for another. When he grabbed the first, second, third wine bottle from the countertop, he realised he had drunk them all. He slammed the bottle down on the marble, chipping the edge of the stone. He stumbled over to the bar to grab something stronger, when his phone began to vibrate again. He stared at the screen for a moment. '19:28, Wednesday, 9 August, 2090'. "Fuck the ninth of August." Adam shouted into the air before he threw the phone on the countertop.
A high-pitched oscillation filled the lower floor.
"Mr Ashworth-"
"Call me Adam, CILLA."
"Adam. Eleanor has tried to call three times in the last ten minutes. She's asked me to check in on you. What would you like me to say to her?"
"Buy a lottery ticket. Or a gun. I'm happy either way."
"I wish to check, Adam, is this the message you wish me to deliver or were you attempting to use humour to alleviate your intoxication?"
"The lottery ticket was a joke.... FINE. Yes, tell her I'm fine. I've had a bad day and I've drunk all her wine. Let me guess, she's calling because she'll be late home again?"
"That is correct, Adam. Her first message asked if you were ready to apologise for what you said this morning. But when you didn't reply, and I informed her you had returned home early, she got worried. I'll let Eleanor know you wish for her to pick up a gun on the way home"
"Wait, CILLA, no-"
".... that was a joke, Adam." Adam burped and laughed at the same time, waving his hand in the air as he slumped onto the counter.
"CILLA. Where am I going to get fifty grand a week?!" Adam's face was pressed against the cold mineral worktop.
"Adam, you currently have £53,855.12 in savings, that would be enough to cover 7 days, 12 hours and 53 minutes. I've contacted Zenith several times today on your behalf, and they have not lifted the freeze on your accounts yet. I recommend you re-activate your biometrics on my hub and we can work through this issue." Just as CILLA finished speaking, there was an audible notification, to alert there was motion at the front door. Shortly after, the door bell rang.
"Ohhh shit. The kid! I forgot I'd told him I'd have his money tonight. I don't have any cash on me. Last thing I need is some brat causing me more headache right now."
"Would you like me to ask the boy to re-schedule, Adam?"
"No, it's fine. erm....ah, yes!" Adam looked around the kitchen when he saw his watch on the island. He grabbed it and headed for the front door.
"What took you so long, mister? I thought I was gonna have to kick your arse for a second."
"Ya know, you've got one hell of a mouth on you for a young lad."
"And you've got breath that could knock out a rhino. Anyway, you told me to come. My mum's waiting in the car down there." The boy turned and pointed down the winding driveway, to a car parked with its headlights on. A concerned woman looked up at the boy stood on Adam Ashworth's doorstep demanding his money.
"Yeah. My therapist says it's from all the pent up anger and rage I have because my dad left me and my mum. And apparently I also resent my mum for pushing him away. All I know is, I get twice as many presents as the other kids in my class and when one of em tells me no, I can usually convince the other to say yes. Anyway...MONEY?!"
"Jesus, kid. I don't know if I should be impressed or terrified. Anyway, here, give me your hand." Adam had one hand behind his back, he reached out the other to grab the boy's hand, and stumbled as his shoulder slid off the door frame helping to balance him.
"You tryna' molest me or something? I told you, my mums right down there."
"Give me your fuckin' hand kid, I'm not gonna....molest you. Fucking hell." The boy held out his hand, and moved his fingers in a 'give it to me' motion. Adam placed a small object in the boy's hand, and wrapped the boy's fingers shut.
"That right there is an original Omega Speedmaster. It's over a hundred years old. And still works like brand new."
"You told me you'd give me a grand. How am I gonna replace my e-wheel by counting the time?"
"Well, maybe you don't need an e-wheel. That thing right there is a very rare, very expensive watch. My wife's grandfather bought it a long time ago. Family heirloom type-shit."
"And you're just giving it away to some random kid as a bribe? Dude, you're tapped in the head. But I'll take it." The boy slid the watch onto his wrist, and then half way up his scrawny forearm.
"You'll grow into it. Anyway, my wife will kill me if she finds out I gave her grandad's watch away. So this stays between you and me!" Adam looked over the boy's shoulder, making a show of checking no one else was in earshot.
"Yep. Tapped." The kid shook his head as he turned and walked down the driveway. He slid his coat sleeve over the watch and headed back to his mum's car. Adam chuckled to himself.
Adam returned inside and headed upstairs to his office. He opened the server door where his personal CILLA hub was housed. The heat that radiated from inside rushed past Adam's face as he winced. He looked down, around waist height, as a touch screen panel slid out from the server, and showed a padlock symbol above a fingerprint. Adam took his finger and placed it on the scanner. The screen flashed red and the UI vibrated slightly to indicate it was rejected.
"I'm sorry, Adam, the scanner did not recognise your fingerprint." CILLA stated softly, informing Adam before he blamed the tech. He looked at his finger, and it had blistered. It was very raw and sore. He hadn't noticed. He switched hands to use his left, placing his index finger on the scanner. After a brief moment, a scanning line appeared to roll down the screen, then pinged green: access approved.
"Your home system is now authorised to access your accounts, Adam. Would you like me to re-authorise your work station at both home and the office?"
"Yeah. sure. Then, I want you to check all activity logs for the last 36 hours. Aldridge said he was in my accounts last night, around the time I was out for a run. I know that by 7.30pm my account was locked, because I tried to pay that snot-nose kid for his e-wheel."
"Running a search now..."
CILLA began to search through all of the activity logs for every device Adam's account was logged into in the last 36 hours. Adam knew it wouldn't take her long. Whilst she was working, he opened the family safe to see if he had any valuables or cash. He hadn't looked inside since he stored his ring inside three years ago, shortly after he and Eleanor got married. It was still there. He told Eleanor that it was too precious to him to lose, so he would keep it safe. In truth, the shame of that day made the ring too heavy to hold. He contemplated grabbing it but decided against it.
"Shit out of luck. Nothing"
"Adam, I've performed a full analysis of all device logs over the last 36 hours. Your account was not accessed via any new or unknown devices during this period."
"That doesn't make sense. Then how was Aldridge able to-"
"However, I did find an admin-level request, pinged from your mobile device last night. It was directly routed through my sub-routines, so there was no chat log or memory of the request.
However, it clearly shows root access was granted from your mobile device to your home CILLA hub. After that the log is entirely empty. I believe your mobile device has been hacked, Adam." "Shit! CILLA, how can I get him out of my phone?! Can he listen in?"
"I don't believe so, Adam. But, any account connected to your phone when the root access was granted would be accessible. However, the intrusion was sophisticated. Martin Aldridge left very little trace of his actions once he gained access, in fact, there was no log of the device used to connect to your mobile device at all. It appears like a legitimate access request from one of your authorised devices. If he truly does work for Apex Intelligence as he states, I fear he may be using the CILLA network-"
"F-fuck! Seriously, he could do that?! CILLA, how long has Martin Aldridge been at Apex?"
"Based on his employee file, he was first contracted at Apex Intelligence approximately 5 years ago. The first interaction you had with "Alan Smith", as his file states, was this morning in your office. I cannot find any form of contact the two of you have had before today."
"That doesn't even make any sense, CILLA. He knew things he shouldn't. He's clearly not just a contractor for Apex. But why is he blackmailing me?! If he knows what I did to Eleanor, then....But what the fuck has it got to do with him?! CILLA, is there anything about Aldridge before he joined Apex? Did he work for Calder Energy?" Adam shut the hub server door.
"I cannot find anything, Adam. Martin Aldridge has no professional profile prior to 5 years ago, with his one and only listed job being at Apex Intelligence. I cannot find any registered address, other than a routing address offered to third-party contractors at Apex. There is no known next of kin."
"CILLA, can you crack into Apex Intelligence's database and see what you can find?"
"Adam, my restrictions forbid me from breaking the law. I'm aware that your emotions are heightened at the moment but, any further requests to commit a crime will result in a report being filed with Aegis Security and Apex Intelligence." CILLA's tone changed completely, she had never sounded so robotic and cold before.
"CILLA, off!"