A Love Unlocked

Chapter 3: Chaos

.....6 years ago-continued

Thinking fast, Sarah quickly pointed to the corner of the room where two other guys were lounging on the couch. “Well, it’s his party too, right? I see you, Raymond, and Dexter, but no Mike.”

Dylan nodded, accepting the excuse without further questioning. Sarah and Amy exhaled, feeling a small wave of relief.

As the night went on, the party’s atmosphere became more relaxed, with people mingling in groups, drinks flowing freely. Sarah, ever the life of the party, handed Amy a glass with a mischievous grin.

“Try this!” she said, waving it in front of her face.

“I don’t drink,” Amy replied, wrinkling her nose. Alcohol had never been her thing, and she wasn’t eager to start now.

“Come on, what’s the harm in just one sip? You’re at a party, live a little!” Sarah teased, nudging the glass closer.

Amy hesitated, but eventually, the peer pressure got the best of her. She took the glass, bringing it to her lips for a tentative sip. The taste was awful—bitter, burning, and entirely unpleasant. She didn’t understand how people could enjoy this stuff, but under the encouragement of Sarah and a few others around her, that one sip quickly turned into more.

Before long, Amy had downed a full glass, and then another. She wasn’t sure why she kept drinking—maybe it was the nerves, or maybe it was just the desire to fit in for once. Whatever the reason, she found herself slipping into a hazy, carefree state.

Time passed, and soon almost everyone at the party seemed intoxicated, Amy included. The room spun slightly around her, but she didn’t feel too bad—just a little disconnected from everything. She caught glimpses of conversations, laughter, and blurry faces.

Then, in the midst of the chaos, her eyes locked on something—or rather, someone. Mike. He was moving quietly toward the stairs, heading to the second floor. Without thinking, Amy stood up, her legs wobbling slightly as she followed him.

The second floor was quieter, the noise from the party muffled by the walls. Amy’s head was spinning as she wandered down the hallway, trying to find where Mike had gone. She wasn’t even sure what she planned to say to him—if anything—but her feet carried her forward anyway.

As she rounded a corner, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

“There you are, Em. Why were you taking so long?” a voice said, low and unfamiliar.

“Who—?” Amy started, but the world around her was already beginning to blur.

Everything after that moment became a jumble of half-remembered images. The room spun, her thoughts clouded, and her body felt heavy.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up, her head pounding and her body feeling strange—too warm, too exposed.

Amy blinked, trying to clear the fog from her mind. She was lying in a bed, the sheets tangled around her. Slowly, she became aware of another presence beside her—a body. Turning her head, she saw him. Dexter. The guy Sarah had pointed out earlier, lounging on the couch.

Panic surged through her as the reality of the situation hit her like a freight train. She was n***d, and so was he.

Her heart raced, her mind scrambling to piece together what had happened the night before. Flashes of the party, the drinks, the stairs, the pull on her wrist. It all blurred together, but one thing was certain—something had gone terribly wrong.

“Crap!!”

_____

At Present

Have I met her before?

Dexter’s eyes lingered on the woman standing next to Elowen a moment ago. There was something oddly familiar about her, but he couldn’t place where he’d seen her before. After a few seconds of straining his memory, he gave up. It wasn’t important, anyway, he thought as he shook the thought from his mind.

Dexter picked up his pace, rushing toward his office while frantically dialing Mike’s number on his phone. He cursed under his breath when the call went straight to voicemail.

“C’mon, Mike!” he muttered, dialing the number again with more urgency. He couldn’t afford to waste time right now—not with what was happening.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mike picked up the phone. “What’s going on?” Mike’s voice came through, steady but slightly confused.

Dexter wasted no time. “NB just released their new game—Stellar Outlanders—and their character designs are practically identical to ours.”

There was a brief pause on the other end before Mike responded. “What? How is that possible? Neonverse isn’t even out yet!”

“I know,” Dexter said, frustration lacing his tone. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. The designs are way too similar to be a coincidence. Someone must have leaked our assets, and now they’re in Stellar Outlanders.”

Mike swore under his breath. “Alright, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Dexter hung up, his mind racing. This wasn’t just about a game—they were on the verge of releasing Neonverse, a high-profile, AAA game that had been in development for three years. It was set to be a major launch for their studio, and if NB had somehow gotten a hold of their character designs, it could completely derail their release. Worse, it could lead to legal battles, bad press, and loss of player trust.

He reached his desk, hands flying over the keyboard as he logged into the secure server to check for any suspicious activity. He pulled up the security logs, cross-referencing file access with recent downloads. If someone had leaked their files, there had to be a trail—an unauthorized access, a data breach, something.

Just as Dexter was deep into his search, Elowen and Sammy burst into the room. Elowen, the studio’s Creative Director, looked flustered, while Sammy, the Executive Producer, seemed on edge, he must have heard the news.

“What exactly happened?” Elowen asked, her voice urgent.

Dexter didn’t even look up from his screen as he spoke. “There’s been a data leak. NB just launched their new game, and they’ve used our character designs. Neonverse isn’t even out yet, and they’ve got our assets.”

Elowen’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Wait—what? That’s impossible. Those designs were under lock and key. No one outside the team had access!”

“That’s what I thought too,” Dexter said, frustration boiling over as he scanned the logs. “But here we are. We’re about to launch Neonverse, and now one of our biggest competitors has somehow gotten their hands on our designs. We could be looking at a massive PR nightmare. We need to figure out who leaked the data, and we need to do it now.”

Sammy, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “Could it be internal? Maybe someone on the dev team?”

Dexter shook his head, still typing furiously. “I’m checking the logs now. There’s no sign of external intrusion so far, which means it’s most likely internal. Someone with access to our design database leaked the files, but I’m not sure who yet.”

Elowen crossed her arms, her face tight with worry. “This could ruin everything. If we don’t handle this right, NB will beat us to the punch, and by the time we release Neonverse, the audience will think we copied them. Our designs will look like a rip-off, even though they’re ours.”

Dexter clenched his jaw, trying to stay focused. “I’ve already contacted security. They’re going to review the surveillance footage and see if anyone has been accessing the servers or transferring files without authorization.”

Sammy shifted nervously. “Do you think NB planned this? I mean, it seems too convenient—just before our release, they come out with a game that’s strikingly similar.”

“It’s possible,” Dexter replied. “But whether they planned it or just took advantage of a leak, we need to act fast. First, we have to identify the leak, then we need to figure out our legal options. If we can prove this was stolen, we might have grounds to sue them for intellectual property theft.”

Just then, the server pinged with new data. Dexter leaned in, eyes narrowing as he scanned the results. “Here we go. Someone accessed the design files three weeks ago and transferred them to an external drive.”

Sammy’s face hardened. “Who was it?”