Chapter 19 She Still Couldn't Let Him Go

The mood in the technical department was grim. On the central wall, the Firmament System's performance graph plunged straight off a cliff, enough to make anyone's stomach drop. A ring of engineers crowded the main console, fingers flying over keyboards, but nothing they tried made a dent. "Ms. Becker, this isn't sustainable! The core database is seconds from a full lock," one senior developer called out. Camelia's brow stayed pinched. "I've tried every repair path we have, but there's deep encryption on the lower layers. The second I roll back data, the system trips a stronger countermeasure." That took the wind out of the room. People exchanged looks that said the same thing—this was bad. Right then, Rosalie walked in with a young engineer. Lucian was a few steps behind them. His eyes went to Camelia on reflex. Camelia hurried to Rosalie. "You're finally here. Thank God! I tried to patch the system, but some of the core modules look like you put special safeties on them. I can'