Previously on Corporate Shadows
After attackers breached Victor's office, Zara fought them off using her enhanced abilities and GHOST technology. When the initial assault failed, the attackers blew out Victor's windows and rappelled down from higher floors. Zara shielded Victor from the explosion, taking glass shards that her enhanced healing quickly repaired.
Trapped in Victor's bathroom, they used the security cameras to assess the damage and discovered a mysterious woman with access to Victor's private rooms. When questioned, Victor dismissively called her a cleaner named "Dawn"—though he seemed unsure of her identity.
After the immediate threat passed, the woman arrived via the damaged elevator, revealing herself as "Daisy" and claiming to be Victor's long-time friend who handles "cleaning up" messes. Her familiarity with Victor and advanced technical skills raised Zara's suspicions about her true role, but Victor allowed her to proceed with disposing of the bodies while Zara continued searching for clues about their attackers' identities and how they gained access to the secure floors.
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Victor watched as his bodyguard moved methodically from body to body, while also keeping a half eye on his terminal and the rapidly flying communications. He was forced to admit that being attacked here, in the sanctity of his office, had rattled him and, despite the concern that he had about Chameleon being caught up in it all, he was grateful to have someone he trusted implicitly with him right at that moment.
Which left the other person in his office, the one alive anyway. Nyx. She was… something. The way she handled that massive gun, which was still lying on the floor near his desk where she had abandoned it, was downright sexy. Of course, at the time he had been a little more preoccupied with not being shot, but now, looking back on it, he could admire how her confidence and scary level of skill had enhanced her appeal.
"Your security system is fucked."
And then she opened her mouth and ruined it all. "Gee, I never would have guessed that," Victor drawled. "So is my office, in case you couldn't tell."
"Yeah, well, you're still in one piece, so that's a win for me."
"Oh, I like her," Daisy, or rather Chameleon, said from where they were still sitting on his desk.
"You only say that because you don't know her," Victor retorted.
"Oh, because you know me so well?" Nyx said, straightening from the last body and arching a black eyebrow.
"Better than C- Daisy does," Victor said, catching himself at the last minute.
[--Oops,--] Aiko said, chiming in briefly while still working on checking accesses, cameras, security feeds, press releases, whatever they could find.
I don't need your peanut gallery comments, Victor replied.
"Oh, I doubt that, honey," Chameleon said.
[--You don't even know what a peanut gallery is.--]
Nyx was frowning as she strode towards Victor, her hands down by her sides. "All right. What's her deal?" she asked, pointing her chin towards Chameleon.
Oh, and you do? Victor challenged.
[--The peanut gallery refers to the cheapest seats in- --]
I don't care! Victor snapped.
Aiko, prat that it was, proceeded to send him a personal message explaining what the peanut gallery was, how it became used in normal conversation, and several suggestions of alternate phrases. For his future reference, apparently.
Victor threw up a mental 'Do Not Cross' sign in his mind. Aiko could override it if they had to, of course, but it was generally respected and would allow no further interruptions until he removed it.
"Excuse me?" Victor said, not liking her tone, or the almost threatening way she was walking towards them.
Chameleon slipped down from Victor's desk, putting themself between Victor and Nyx, arms crossed across their rather ample bosom.
"Exactly this!" Nyx said, waving a hand towards Chameleon. "A cleaner who doesn't clean and just sits on your desk watching. Who calls you 'dearie'. Who stands between you and I as if she were the bodyguard. Who has access to your rooms that you didn't even want to allow me, your actual bodyguard, to have access to. And I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you were privately communicating this whole time with how quiet you've been."
"Are you finished?" Victor asked dryly.
Chameleon laughed, a deep rich sound that made the corners of Victor's mouth twitch; he liked it when they laughed, especially when it was genuine like this instead of put on for show, and he liked to think that he knew Chameleon well enough to know the difference. "Oh, honey, we don't need to have an open line to be able to understand each other. We've been friends for…" She looked over her shoulder and met Victor's gaze, her eyes going sad at the corners. "far too long," she finished quieter.
"If the two of you are friends, and if you're not on the staff list for Aegis, then I'll need your profile as well," Nyx declared.
"No can do, honey. Search all you want, you won't find what you're looking for," Chameleon said.
"Is that permission?" Nyx asked.
Chameleon waved a hand forward. "Go right ahead."
Victor sighed, too tired to keep his normally tight control at that very moment. He knew all Nyx would be able to find would be the constructed profile of 'Daisy'. And the same would be for any other form Chameleon took on. Daisy, however, was one of the first personas Chameleon had created twelve years ago, so the history with Victor began then. It listed her as a personal cleaner with clearance up to and including Victor's rooms, though of course that clearance was nothing for Chameleon to go beyond should they wish.
"I don't understand," Nyx said softly, her expression looking almost hurt.
"And you are supposed to be responsible for Victor's safety? Pathetic," Chameleon said, their tone icy.
Nyx rose her pistol abruptly, aiming it at Chameleon's head. "And you are a threat. If I can't get through your ICE with my hardware, then you can't be trusted to have Victor's best interests at heart."
"Enough!" Victor snapped. Stepping forward, he rested one hand on Chameleon's shoulder and pulled them back behind him, while the other reached for Nyx's gun to push it aside. She moved it before he could grab it, but he let it go; the main thing was to get her to stop pointing it at his closest ally.
Looking over his shoulder, he used Aiko's speed to connect to Chameleon and send them the impression of asking if it was okay to tell her the truth. After all, Chameleon's identity wasn't his secret to share, but there wasn't the time to rely on words.
At Chameleon's nod, he turned back to Nyx and said softer, "Enough. You are right about one thing: Daisy is more than just my cleaner, despite what the file shows. Their name is Chameleon, and they can take on any persona they choose. Daisy is one of those. And they are also my closest friend and confidant. There is no one I trust more."
Zara hadn't taken her eyes off Chameleon, but at least she didn't raise the gun again. "I'm guessing the maintenance worker who came here earlier wasn't really a maintenance worker either," she said slowly.
Chameleon grinned and stepped to the side of Victor so they could be seen clearly. They then changed. A shimmering ripple started from the top of their head and travelled down their body and their form changed into that of the maintenance worker from earlier. Mitchy as Chameleon had called them. "She catches on fast," they said, their voice now that of the man, though he was wearing slightly too big overalls. "Go ahead, check my files again. I won't try to stop you."
Victor saw Nyx's eyes go slightly unfocused as she did just that, then with a blink her attention was returned. "Incredible. If I didn't see you change with my own eyes, I would have believed you were a different person. Though that would explain the neural connection you had with Victor earlier."
Victor's head pulled back in shock. "You heard us?"
But Nyx shook her head. "Couldn't get through, not without making it obvious I was trying. But I was aware of the conversation. So, are you an Aegis spy? Corporate espionage and all that?"
"Something like that," Chameleon said, their tone breezy.
"Personal spy and espionage agent. And highly confidential. Even more than the mirror glass. Chameleon works for me and me alone."
"No shit, so even your father doesn't know?" Nyx asked, her eyes running up and down Victor with a newfound respect.
"No, he does not. And I would appreciate it if you kept it that way when you speak to him."
Nyx shrugged. "No problem, I've never met the guy," she said.
"You never met the person who hired you? Do you usually conduct business this way?" Victor asked disbelievingly.
"Told you, it went through my handler. He's the one with the connections; I just follow orders," Nyx said.
Victor didn't like that. And, more than that, he didn't like that she could tell when he and Chameleon were communicating privately, so he couldn't even ask them if they had found out anything yet. It was probably far too soon—the attack had kind of thrown things in the air—but they had surprised Victor before.
[--Incoming,--] Aiko said, pushing past Victor's Do Not Pass notice, at the same time as Chameleon changed back into Daisy and said, "We have visitors."
Chameleon strode into the bathroom. The elevator made a grinding sound and then the doors were pushed further open but, instead of the fingers Chameleon had used, it was gun barrels instead. Nyx rose her gun, but Victor said, "It's fine, they're members of the board and their personal security."
"Personal security that you don't have?"
Chameleon re-emerged from the bathroom with some cleaning supplies and started actually acting like the cleaner they were supposed to be, dragging the bodies to the side for easier disposal later, cleaning the blood, sweeping the glass. Victor put them from his mind, as a CEO was expected to of a cleaner.
"I'll fill you in on that later," Victor promised as the door was shoved aside and three soldiers in tactical armour came through ahead of three suited board members.
He stepped past both Nyx and Chameleon, meeting them halfway into his office. The soldiers spread out, looking for threats while Victor faced down three of his adversaries.
"Victor, dear, are you all right? When we heard that there was another attack…" the younger of the two women, Sarah, said.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine," Victor said, back straight, head raised, confident. "The bodyguard my father assigned has performed perfectly."
"Now it's 'performed perfectly?" Victor heard Zara mutter under her breath, quiet enough that he only heard it thanks to his upgraded hearing.
"Shh," Chameleon hushed her as they passed nearby.
Victor ignored them both; he had to keep his attention on these three vipers.
"Lucian's contacts from the old days. It's quite impressive how he maintains these relationships," the only man, Chen, said.
"Quite," Victor replied.
"She protected you, yes, but look at the damage. You would think someone hand-picked by Lucian himself would know how to keep damage to a minimum. I would not say that was performing perfectly," the oldest of the three, Margarette, said.
"Her task was and is to protect me. Not my office," Victor countered. He watched as Chen began moving around the room with a scanner.
"Protecting the CEO of Aegis and Aegis itself are one and the same," she said imperiously.
Victor breathed out through his nose. He could not afford to let her get under his skin. Before he could say anything, Sarah spoke, "I need to get your report on what happened. Verbal for now, and then a written one later when you get the chance. I know this has delayed your meetings, and I'm sure they can be rescheduled. For now, this takes priority."
[--Her VI is requesting to change your bio-engineering meeting to tomorrow.--]
Allow it.
"The breach alarm sounded at 0847. I have not had time to check what occurred prior to this, but I will do so later, and it will be in my written report. The attackers initially entered via the elevator."
"How?" Chen asked from where he was standing by the window, examining the damage there.
"Again, I do not know yet," Victor replied.
"We will investigate-" Margarette started.
"I will investigate it," Victor cut in. At the sharp look from the woman, he tempered it with, "I was the target of this attack and, following so closely on the heels of the last, I need to investigate it quickly and thoroughly and pass on my findings to my new bodyguard so she can do her job. I am sorry, Margarette, but in this case there is simply no time to wait for the proper protocols."
"I keep thinking," Chen said from where he was standing behind Victor. "What is the purpose of these attacks? And aimed solely at you, no less. Certainly not someone from our level, and not any of our shareholders. They only lose out on this kind of instability."
"There is no instability. This is inconvenient, but not insurmountable," Margarette said.
[--Apparently the life of the CEO being under threat is 'inconvenient'.--]
Victor had to agree with Aiko's sentiment, but he wasn't surprised. Margarette was his father's right hand and most loyal sycophant. It was only natural that she see him as expendable as his father did.
"Go on, Victor," Sara encouraged.
"Nyx, my bodyguard, acted immediately in getting me into cover. They attacked first with a flash grenade, and then there was gunfire. From my cover, I could not see anything further; I'll need to refer to the footage tonight to confirm what happened."
[--That likely won't be possible. Whatever they used to block our access to the network also killed the cameras.--]
They don't need to know that we know that yet. I'll save it for tonight's written report. It will work in our favour anyway if they don't realise Nyx has GHOST technology.
"When there was a pause in the shooting, Nyx caused a distraction," he continued aloud, deliberately avoiding details of that distraction, "and I ran for better cover within the bathroom. It was then that the attackers broke my windows and repelled down the building, entering in from that direction."
"Impossible," Margarette said sharply. "That would mean they have access to our levels at the very least, if not the Ruthford personal levels."
"Clearly it's not impossible," Victor said, "since that's exactly what happened. Nyx took the last of them out, after which my cleaner arrived to dispose of the problem."
"Speaking of access, I need access to your files," Nyx said, stepping up beside Victor.
Victor could have groaned at that. Direct demands were not how to get what she wanted with this lot!
"Absolutely not!" Margarette snapped, her expression looking like she had just stepped in something foul.
"You'll have to go through the proper channels," Sarah said more calmly. "It will take time."
"I can help with-" Chen started as he approached, having finished whatever it was he was doing.
"You will do no such thing," Margarette practically growled at the man, cutting him off. "An outsider, no matter how useful, does not require access to such sensitive information, especially since we clearly have nothing to do with the attack. Or are you insinuating that you suspect us?"
"I suspect everybody. It's part of the job," Nyx said, crossing her arms in front of her.
At least she's not reaching for her gun, Victor thought to Aiko.
[--I kind of wish she would.--]
So do I. Time to defuse the situation. "No one is accusing anyone of anything. But if that is all, I do have work to do. As you can see, I am fine, which means things will progress as normal," he said.
"Very well. I expect your written report by the end of the day," Margarette said before she turned and left.
"I'm glad you're all right, Victor," Sarah said, and Victor gave her a silent nod as she followed Margarette and Chen out of the office, their guards falling in behind them.
"Hey, Nyx, you're an assassin, right?" Chameleon said after they were left alone once more. Victor wondered where they were going with that; they already knew that Nyx was an assassin.
"Yes," Nyx answered slowly. "Among other things."
"Can I commission you to take them out? I hate them," Chameleon said and, despite the flippant tone they used, Victor could see the simmering malevolence in their expression. It was understandable considering everything they had been through, but wasn't something that Victor could allow.
"Sure," Nyx said. "I'll even do it for free. Just don't tell Adrien, my handler."
"Not an option," Victor said. "As much as I am tempted at times, they are all competent at their jobs. And if they were removed, it would make things even more unstable than they already are, and the shareholders would balk."
"Later?" Chameleon asked.
Victor smiled fondly. "Later," he promised. "For now, I should use the rest of my bio-engineering meeting time to meet with PR instead, see if they can come up with a way to spin this."
"Where are they located?" Nyx asked.
Can you draw Nyx a floor by floor map of the Aegis levels? Just from Reception to my rooms.
[--I'm not an artist, you know,--] Aiko replied, but they drew one up, anyway.
It doesn't need to be pretty. Once it was complete, he sent it to her neural link. And just so they didn't feel left out, he shared it with Chameleon as well. They already knew their way around and, frankly, knew all the secret hideaways and shortcuts that not even Victor knew, but he wanted to make sure they knew what Nyx knew.
"Nice," Nyx said as her eyes glazed over, studying it. "But PR is on the same level as the Reception, where anyone can get in. Do that meeting remotely."
Victor bristled at being told what to do, but then logic reigned. It was frustrating, but until he knew how these assailants were accessing him, he had to be careful. And Nyx had proven her competence so far.
"All right. We'll take the rest of today's meetings from my rooms," Victor allowed. "At the very least, it's not open to the elements like here is."
Victor began to gather what he needed from his desk and then moved to the bathroom where he had left his gun. Chameleon followed him in.
"I don't like her having access to you while you sleep," they said, their voice so quiet that, without the hearing enhancement they knew he had, he wouldn't have heard. Which meant they wouldn't be overheard. And since Nyx could apparently tell when they were talking to each other over the neural link, that was all they could really do for now.
"Neither do I, but I think it'll be okay. She had the opportunity to let me die today, and she didn't. She actually put herself in harm's way to block any shards of glass from getting me," Victor said but, rather than reassure Chameleon, it just made them scowl. He sighed. "I know you have enough on your plate, but if you like, you can keep an eye on things. Tonight only though. And not from within my room."
Chameleon relaxed then and leaned against the doorframe. "All right. But let me follow you two for now. She's already slipped once and given me the first name of her handler, she might slip up again and give me even more I can work with."
"Of course," Victor allowed, then slipped past them and walked up to where Nyx was leaning against his damaged couch, her massive gun leaning next to her. And her eyes were glazed over.
Aiko? he asked.
[--She's on a call. Not to someone within Aegis.--]
Victor gave a sharp look to Chameleon and tilted his head towards Nyx. They had the tech expertise to try to trace the call without being seen. Aiko could do it too, but not with the stealth that Chameleon could. He had to know who she was talking to and couldn't stop the thought arising that maybe she was involved somehow. Was she the threat? Was that how she was so effective, she knew how the attack was about to come?
In the next episode, Zara comes up with a temporary plan to deter further attacks as they move to Victor’s rooms.
Coming Soon
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