In the heart of London – Surveillance at a glance…

As they sped toward Canary Wharf, Tess patched through a final data packet.
Emma opened it — and froze.
“Jake… this isn’t just London.”
Jake glanced over. “What do you mean?”
Emma turned the screen toward him.
A global map.
Cities highlighted in red.

• New York
• Berlin
• Singapore
• Sydney
• Johannesburg
• Dubai
• Toronto
• Tokyo
  Jake whispered, “No…”
  Emma’s voice cracked.
  “He’s running parallel operations. Red Line isn’t a London attack. It’s a template.”
  Tess confirmed it.
  “He’s testing the system here. If he succeeds, the others activate.”
  Jake stared at the road ahead, the towers of Canary Wharf rising like steel monoliths.
  “This isn’t a man,” he said quietly.
  Emma looked at him. “Then what is he?”
  Jake answered without hesitation.
  “A revolution.”
  He pressed harder on the accelerator.
  “And we’re going to stop it.”
  The towers of Canary Wharf rose like steel monoliths against the pale morning sky. One Canada Square — the tallest of them — loomed above everything, its pyramid peak cutting into the clouds like a blade.
  Jake and Emma parked two blocks away. The streets were already snarled with diverted traffic, confused commuters, and emergency vehicles responding to false alarms triggered by the Architect’s digital sabotage.
  Emma checked her gear. “Tess says the signal is coming from somewhere between floors 40 and 50.”
  Jake nodded. “High enough to cripple the building if something goes off.”
  Emma added, “And high enough to make escape difficult.”
  Jake smirked. “He always did like theatrics.”
  They moved quickly, blending into the flow of office workers being ushered out by security. The Architect’s chaos had triggered a partial evacuation — perfect cover for slipping inside.
  As they approached the revolving doors, Emma whispered, “Jake… once we’re in, we’re blind. He’ll have control of the internal systems.”
  Jake replied, “Then we don’t rely on them.”
  They stepped inside.
  The lobby was a cavern of glass and marble, eerily quiet despite the chaos outside. Security guards were distracted, dealing with panicked employees and malfunctioning badge readers.
  Jake and Emma slipped past them and headed for the service elevators.
  Emma tapped her comms. “Tess, we’re inside. Status?”
  Tess’s voice crackled.
  “I’m trying to get into the building’s internal network, but the Architect has firewalled everything. He’s running his own system on top of theirs.”
  Jake muttered, “He’s turning the building into a fortress.”
  Emma pressed the elevator button. “Then we breach it.”
  The doors opened.
  They stepped inside.
  As the elevator rose, the lights flickered — once, twice — then stabilised.
  Emma frowned. “He knows we’re here.”
  Jake nodded. “Good.”
  The elevator stopped at Floor 42.
  The doors opened.
  Darkness.
  Total darkness.
  Emma drew her weapon. “Jake…”
  Jake stepped out slowly. “He cut the power to this floor.”
  Emergency lights flickered on, casting long shadows across the empty office space. Desks were abandoned. Papers scattered. Computer screens are dead.
  Emma whispered, “This floor was evacuated fast.”
  Jake scanned the room. “Or cleared.”
  A soft click echoed from deeper inside.
  Emma raised her weapon. “Movement.”
  They advanced cautiously, weaving between cubicles.
  Then they saw it.
  A laptop.
  Open.
  Powered by an external battery.