Cherreads

Chapter 8 - Chapter 8 — Storm Signal

Evan's morning started with a blast of cold air as he swung open the balcony door, the old metal latch protesting. The city felt unusually alive, horns cutting through low fog, a dog barking in hurried bursts as if alerting the world to something bigger brewing. On the kitchen floor, Nora flopped tummy-first on a soft play mat, babbling at her own fist. She caught Evan's eye, kicked her feet, and flashed a sudden, gummy smile that made the tough corners of his heart crumble.

Mira swooped in, hair a mess but eyes bright, pressing a mug into Evan's hands. She grinned, her grin as crooked as the spoon in the sugar bowl. "If coffee can make a day bulletproof, today's dose might finally do it."

Evan sipped, then reached down to tap Nora's knee. "We should invest in a coffee roastery and baby toy patent. Maybe then we'd actually sleep." The three of them—one half-awake dad, an unflappable mom, and a baby who giggled at ceiling fans—felt like the start of a joke with no punchline but real warmth.

Sam barged in, phone in hand. "Alerts all over the lab's perimeter server last night. Not a drill. Someone pinged your backup cloud node sixteen times in three hours." His tone cut right to the nerves, the energy of the apartment shifting as if someone had cracked the window to let in storm wind.

Mira's expression set, sharp and determined. "Do we even get to breathe before someone tries to knock again?"

"Apparently not," Evan replied, flipping to his laptop and pulling up surveillance feeds. "But this time, we're meeting them head-on."

The dining table became mission control: laptops, hilit notebooks, breakfast crumbs, Nora's stuffed giraffe doubling as a makeshift phone rest. The System's prompt blinked just out of sight, a digital heart murmur:

[Main Quest: Identify the source of the intrusion. Reward: System Resilience Upgrade, 200 SP. Time limit: 30 hours.]

"Don't you love it when the universe sets a timer?" Sam quipped, nudging Evan's elbow.

Evan fired off emails to campus security and their IT liaison. As he waited for responses, he caught Mira tilting her phone—taking photos of Nora, the play-mat mess, the three mugs lined up like chess pieces. "Insurance," she said with a wink. "Proof that good days glitter through the noise."

Outside, rain began—hesitant at first, then lashing hard enough to rattle window glass. Nora, unbothered, squealed and yanked on her rainbow teether. The storm outside only highlighted the calm hustle inside.

Campus called back. The IT director's voice was gravelly from lack of sleep. "We're running tracebacks. Whoever's poking your node knows what they're doing. But there's a weak point. Get eyes on the neighboring servers—they're using lateral entry, masking as legitimate faculty traffic."

Sam offered a low whistle. "Someone local. Higher threat."

The hours passed in frantic collaboration, the group rotating from research to sandwich runs, keeping anxiety at bay where they could. There were small, shining moments: Evan noticing Nora's effort to crawl, Mira's optimism infectious enough to keep them all working, Sam snatching a power nap with the high-chair tray as a footrest.

By dusk, they traced a pattern. The intruder wasn't just probing Evan's research; they were mapping their daily routines. Camera logins timed with Nora's naps, fake maintenance requests routed to their building. It left the skin prickling. Mira's voice was steely: "We can't just defend anymore. We have to fight back, our way."

Evan set a trap, disguising a decoy server with backup files containing deliberately scrambled code—enough to entice, not enough to harm. Sam manned the monitor, eyes red-rimmed but focused, while Mira double-checked their physical locks and phoned a neighbor to sit on call as backup.

At exactly 8:56 p.m., the trap was sprung: a foreign IP, routed through local faculty access, pinged the decoy. The System's display went dizzy-bright:

[Quest Progress: Intruder snared. Source: University staff subnet.]

Sweat trickled down Evan's spine as real-time logs flickered. Mira wrapped arms around Nora and watched, silent support radiating off her in waves.

Just as Evan copied out the packet logs, a thunderclap split the city and the power flickered. For three heartbeats, the apartment hovered on the edge of blackness.

Light returned. All normal. Except then came the new System notification, this time in red:

[Threat escalation—Physical breach detected: Main building entrance. Action required NOW.]

Sam jumped up. "Check the monitor!" A dark figure stood at the building foyer on their external cam feed, hood pulled up, moving too deliberately for it to be random shelter from the rain.

Mira's jaw set. "Get the neighbor on call, lock the windows, take Nora." She handed the baby into Evan's arms, grabbed her phone, and pressed herself to the peephole as quietly as a cat.

They moved in a practiced blur—Nora fit snug against Evan's chest, Sam tight at the door with a metal bar, Mira whispering instructions across the group chat while texting the neighbor and dialing 911 without missing a beat.

The footsteps in the hallway paused outside their door. Every breath in the apartment held still, waiting.

Behind Evan's ribs, Nora gurgled—a soft, defiant noise, as if daring the world to get any closer. In that single perfect sound, the whole family seemed to draw courage from the smallest heart.

The knob jiggled, then went still. A shadow moved under the door, voice low: "—just checking on building security due to the storm. Management sent us—"

Evan nodded to Mira. She raised her voice: "We've called the super and campus police. You can wait in the foyer." When no reply came, Sam banged the metal bar against the table. The figure scuffed away, heavy boots fading down the stairs.

Long, tense seconds passed. After two minutes, the neighbor texted: Security on site. All clear, someone leaving east exit.

Relief whooshed out all at once. Mira gathered Nora in a hug that practically squeaked; Sam leaned against the wall, shaking out tension. Evan's phone buzzed:

[Quest Complete: System Resilience Upgrade unlocked. All family stats +5%. Bonus: Intruder deterrence passive applied.]

For a moment, laughter bubbled up—nervous, grateful. Mira pressed a kiss to Nora's tuft of hair. "I think she earned her superhero stripes tonight."

"We all did," Evan said, voice raspy.

As the clocks neared midnight, the storm finally ebbed. Security checks confirmed, laptops powered down, group chat dotted with grateful emojis, the trio sat on the battered sofa. Soft light, warm baby, Mira's head on Evan's shoulder—real peace, earned.

But as sleep crept close, the System pinged again, this time with gentle insistence:

[Next Quest: Discover the inside collaborator. Time limit: 48 hours.]

Evan looked at Mira, their tired eyes sharing understanding and promise. The storm might have passed for now—but underneath, new currents threatened. Now, knowing the stakes, they faced the next dawn sharper, steadier, and together—every heartbeat a little louder.

And somewhere, not far enough away, the shadows regrouped—ready for round two.

More Chapters