The progress bar paused at forty-two percent.

“Come on,” I whispered.

The rain outside seemed to grow louder.

It drowned out the sound of my own breathing.

On the tablet screen, a series of command lines appeared.

They flashed in bright green against the black background.

I entered my administrative override code.

The screen flashed red.

*Access Denied.*

“He revoked my credentials,” I said.

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.

“Use mine,” Adrian said.

He kept his eyes on the approaching figures outside.

“Username ARomano,” he said.

“The password is the date of my father’s first shipyard acquisition.”

“Eight-twelve-sixty-eight,” he added.

I typed the numbers quickly.

The screen blinked, and a new prompt appeared: *Access Granted.*

“I am in,” I said.

The progress bar started moving again, hitting forty-five percent.

Richard Cole was using a brute-force deletion script.

It was bypassing the standard security layers of the firm.

I had to isolate the main server partition before the script reached the archives.

“They are at the rear bumper,” Adrian said quietly.

He shifted his weight, his grip firm on the weapon.