CHAPTER 49: PRICE OF FAILURE

While Ethan and Lillian celebrated their success, a certain team leader was regretting their failure.

"You failed," a simple sentence was all that was said, but because of who was saying it, it felt like an execution notice.

Tag was on the other end of the line, the hand in which the phone was held trembling.

Dmitri didn’t sound pleased, not even the least bit and according to the rumors, that was really bad.

It had been two days since OmniTech and to say it was a success would be an understatement.

Every single headline was related to both the company and its product. It was a constant reminder of his and his team’s failure.

But he held a little bit of hope, hope that Dmitri wouldn’t blame them, after all, not only had Sentinel made them think they had succeeded, the software also froze mid launch.

They couldn’t be blamed either since it was an illusion they all fell for....right?

But that hope was shattered when his phone rang, a familiar ID showing up. A bead of nervous sweat rolled down Tag’s forehead as the other end went silent for a while.

"I—" he hoped for a chance to explain him or at least the chance to ask for a second chance but Dmitri interrupted before he could say anything else.

"My employer is really displeased right now, he feels slapped in the face," Dmitri continued, his voice completely calm as if he wasn’t even talking about the Vigilants’ recent failure"Do you know what that means, Tag?"

Tag stayed silent. His mouth had long gone dry and he could do nothing but tremble

"It means someone gets to pay the price and do you mind guessing who?" Dmitri let Tag absorb the weight of the situation, he let the fear settle in.

"I... I can fix this," Tag finally blurted out. "Just give us another shot. We underestimated it, but now we know what we’re dealing with, plea—."

"No."

He was coldly cut off, and in that instant, Tag felt as if the executioner had let go of the guillotine’s rope.

"You were warned," Dmitri’s words sealed the nail on the coffin, "failure was never part of the contract."

Tag turned to his team, Nico and Zero were together, Bypass and Silk were arguing and Juno was asleep as he always was.

They had nothing to do with this—he was the one who accepted the job, fully aware of the risks. He had been warned, had known there would be consequences if they failed.

But not once did the thought of failure ever cross his mind. They were the Vigilants—one of the most elite hacker groups the underworld had ever seen.

So he’d do anything to keep them away from the consequences of his greed.

If someone had to suffer for this, let it be him. He clenched his jaw and turned his back to them, completely hiding his fear.

He wouldn’t admit, but at this point, the members of the Vigilants were like family and he didn’t want to lose them.

"I-if you’re worried about us getting found out and incriminating you, w-we can vanish. We’ll go dark. No one will eve—"

"You misunderstand," Dmitri interrupted again, and of course, there was still no anger in his accented voice. "This isn’t about you escaping. This is about my reputation, and my employer’s wrath."

At this point, Tag was at his wits’ end. He knew there was no way Dmitri would simply let go of this failure.

If he had been known to tolerate failures or give second chances, then the name Dmitri wouldn’t have been so feared in the underworld.

"T-then can you s-spare my team?" Tag stuttered, holding a bit of hope, "they had no idea of the consequences, they thought it was just another job."

There was a moment of silence before an amused chuckle was heard from Dmitri’s end.

"Ты не понимаешь, да?" His tone was condescending as he responded in Russian, "I don’t care if they knew or not. All that matters is they were involved in this failure."

"I hired the Vigilants because their name meant something. Now your name is synonymous with failure. Do you know what that does to a reputation like mine?" Dmitri continued. "It tells the world I back incompetence, that I tolerate waste, that I can be embarrassed in front of my employer."

After his words the line went completely silent and Tag knew there was no escape for him or his team, whatever consequence was coming, they couldn’t avoid it.

Dmitri, on the other hand, sat quietly in what seemed like an office with the phone still in his ear, as if he was waiting for someone.

Suddenly.... Boom!

An explosion was heard on the other end, followed by what seemed like multiple screams of pain came before the line went static.

Calmly, he put the phone down as if he hadn’t just heard an explosion go off on the other side of the phone.

He then picked up his tablet which let out a ding as a message came in.

"It’s done," was what he read on the screen. "Their base has been reduced to ash."

Dmitri typed a response, "bodies?"

"No confirmation yet. But it’s unlikely anyone survived."

He put the tablet down, an evident satisfaction on his face.

"A stain removed is better than one covered up," he said as he stood up and walked towards the exit.

This wouldn’t calm Nathaniel down, but it was enough to calm a bit of his anger for now.

_________

Isabela walked up the stairs of the apartment, visibly nervous. She knew Ethan knew something about her ’internship’ but she didn’t know what he knew.

Slowly, he walked up the stairs and was soon at the apartment’s door. Pulling the handle, she noticed that it was locked notifying her that Ethan was out.

Sighing in relief, she took out the spare key Ethan had previously handed to her and opened the door.

Peeking inside, She glanced around the apartment as she stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind her.

It seemed Ethan really was out.

She walked into her room, tossed her bag on the bed, kicked off her shoes, and padded toward the bathroom. A hot shower was the one thing she needed to clear her thoughts and gauge exactly what Ethan knew.

Fifteen minutes later, wrapped in one of her oversized hoodies and a towel in hand, she walked back into the living room. She dried her hair quickly, put back her round glasses, then collapsed onto the couch.

The TV remote was on the armrest. She grabbed it, flipped through a few channels without much thought, until she suddenly paused.

Clicking the remote again, she went back to previous channels until she stumbled upon the one that had caught her eye—Channel 8 News.

Her blood ran cold as she read the headline at the bottom of the screen:

[FIRE IN MIDTOWN — NOTORIOUS HACKER GROUP ’THE VIGILANTS’ PRESUMED DEAD.]

The anchor was mid-report, but Isabela wasn’t hearing much at first.

Her eyes were locked on the video playing across the screen: a couple of burning buildings, fire crews dragging hoses behind them, and then, photos of six individuals displayed on the screen.

Slowly she stood up and walked towards the TV, the remote clenched tightly in her trembling hand.

She’d only left the base a little over an hour ago. How could things have gone to hell that quickly?

"The group in question is known as the Vigilants."

The News Anchor’s words were a confirmation that it really was her team that was involved in that fire.

Worst of all, she didn’t know how to feel.