Three Alphas, Fated To One, Played By One, But Mated To One

Chapter 104: No Trust in Human Nature

I leaned back slightly, thinking.

Then I reached for my phone.

Not the regular touch screen Lady Bernice bought for me, but the old button phone I had used for years.

It was so old that no one would bother about it.

I had also done some modifications to ensure that no one could find anything on it.

Yet, it connected me to a world far beyond this pack.

I hesitated for a second then typed.

"I need your input on something."

The message was simple and direct.

The reply came quickly.

"About time. Thought you disappeared."

A faint, almost invisible smile touched my lips.

This was my mentor. The one who had shown me the deeper world of hackers when I had accidentally stumbled on the dark web.

The only person who knew what I was capable of.

He had taught me and guided my advancement.

Without ever asking who I really was.

Or where I came from.

"I was busy," I typed back.

There was a short silence before a reply came back.

"Busy surviving or busy causing trouble?"

My fingers stilled for a second before typing.

"Both."

"Sounds like you."

I exhaled softly.

Then got to the point.

"I’m working on a secure payment system. It contains multi-layer encryption, identity masking, and adaptive authentication."

A short pause followed before a reply came.

"You’re not playing around anymore."

"What’s the issue?" he asked

I glanced back at the screen.

Then typed.

"It’s secure but the many layers slows down processing and creates bottlenecks."

I explained my issue.

The reply came fast.

"A classic mistake for inexperienced beginners."

My brow furrowed slightly.

"It’s not a mistake. It’s a trade-off."

"It is a mistake," he replied immediately. "Security that slows function becomes a weakness. And it gives hackers an opportunity to bypass it."

His words were true. Real hackers always found ways around obstacles.

"So what do I do?"

The reply came quickly.

"Make the system smart."

"How am I supposed to do that?" I couldn’t understand what my mentor meant by making my system smart.

It was already smart since it will be available on smart devices used in large companies and banks.

People can also use them for individual transactions.

But what did it mean by it wasn’t smart?

"You focused on mainly making the transaction smooth during payment. With your system, transactions between two or more entities could be more secure and carry less risk compared to the available systems in the market. However, you failed to account for the needs of different clients."

Seeing this message from my mentor felt as if a cap had been twisted off.

It seemed that my mind was opened to new possibilities.

I had indeed been too rigid in my thinking.

If all the transactions followed the same frequency, then those doing small transactions would get better service than those transacting with huge amounts.

"So, what you are saying is I should make the security system adaptive. Don’t treat all the transactions the same. Lower risk transactions could use low friction in the system and fewer encryptions while high-risk transactions can trigger a total lockdown of information."

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that it made sense.

"Risk-based authentication?"

"Exactly."

My fingers moved quickly now, adjusting the framework.

I didn’t have much time to waste. I wanted to complete the project as soon as possible and launch my security company.

I adjusted the logic and rewrote entire sections of code.

"Separate pathways..." I murmured softly. "Dynamic triggers... anomaly detection..."

As I typed, the system began to change shape.

It was becoming something better, faster, and smarter with every keyboard tap.

I sent a progress report to my mentor after every change was implemented.

"You’re getting it," he sent a reply.

But I was too busy to reply.

Time turned into a blur as I typed. Minutes turned into hours without me noticing anything.

By the time I stopped and stared at the screen, I couldn’t believe it.

"It works..." I exhaled with a faint smile.

"It’s done." I sent the message to my mentor after I was done."

"That’s good. Sent to me for inspection."

I thought about it and realized that I was hesitating.

Not because I didn’t trust my mentor but because I didn’t trust human nature.

Without thinking too much, I wrote the source code and directly applied for a patent online.

Luckily, things have become easy and everything could be done with the internet.

I waited for a moment until I received an email telling me that my patent registration application had been received before breathing a sigh of relief.

Now, even if someone else went to register it, it would show that I submitted the application earlier.

After I was done with the patent application, I then sent the program to my mentor.

"You’ve done a great job. This security system will perform very well in the financial industry."

A knock on the door pulled me back at this moment.

I quickly locked the screen, setting the device aside.

"Come in."

The door opened slowly.

And for a split second....my heart betrayed me.

Because I thought it was him.

But it wasn’t.

It was one of the maids.

She stepped in cautiously.

"Luna... the council is requesting your presence."

I blinked slightly.

"The council?"

"Yes."

I stood slowly, ignoring the slight pull in my arm.

"Tell them I’ll be there shortly."

She nodded quickly and left.

The room fell silent again.

I wondered what the pack council wanted with me.

I straightened up slightly, adjusting my sleeve to cover the bandage on my arm, then walked towards the door.

Ready to face whatever came next.

The pack council of Night claw pack has never been kind. They were part of the group that convicted my father with fraudulent charges and cooked evidence.

However, I wasn’t strong enough to go head-to-head with them yet.

So, I will have to see what they want with me before making a decision.

If it all came to something unpleasant, then I would definitely leave the pack.