Whispers followed me across the ballroom. Liam watched from the stage with a look of practiced pity.
At the elevated sound booth, a nervous technician stood to block me. I had hired Ben two years ago.
He knew exactly what Liam would do to anyone who helped me. His access badge shook against his shirt as he stepped into the narrow aisle.
“Aria, you can’t be in here,” he stammered, his eyes wide with panic and secondhand embarrassment for me. “Security is on its way.”
“Sit down, Ben.” I kept moving toward the main board. He reached for my arm.
“They’ll fire me,” he pleaded.
“They're about to have bigger problems.” I entered the twelve-digit alphanumeric master code I'd hardwired into the firmware on installation day.
Every screen on the console flickered once, then glowed a soft cyan.
