Jasper Corrupted Novels & Stories

Chapter 19 ANNALISA The crisis began on a Tuesday. I arrived at the school that morning to find three separate things wrong simultaneously, which should have told me something—three separate things going wrong simultaneously is rarely coincidence. The first was that the data sharing system Marcus's team had established for tracking student outcomes across the territories had corrupted overnight. Not a simple glitch,the corruption was specific and thorough, affecting six months of carefully compiled records in a way that suggested someone had intentionally sabotaged it rather than it being technical failure.

Jasper’s jaw clenched angrily. “What did you find?” I pursed my lips, picking up the file he pushed across the desk. Paging through the file, I cringed at the gruesome pictures and stopped when a flash drive caught my attention. “What's this?” I asked, lifting the silver stick to Jasper’s view. “Let’s see, shall we?” He took the stick from me and inserted it into the USB port on his laptop. There was only one file on the stick which appeared to be a video and the moment he opened it, I knew exactly where this was headed.

But I need to say something or an appropriate cursing word to make him feel small. Then he beats me to it. "It's breathtaking, isn't it?" Following his gaze, I look at the hill from the window to my side and choke when the next thing he says, "You can enjoy the view when I take you from behind. Grip the railing tight. You know that, don't you?" My cheeks flame up, making me glare hard at him. I regret the day I accidentally left my diary in his study room years ago when we were in high school. My backpack felt so stuffed and heavy that I had to take out all the copies, and then that happened.

The door flew open a second time, and my daughter rushed inside like one being pursued—my daughter. I rushed to my feet, consciousness of how hard it was to stand, talkless of running. I had to warn her; they all had to know. “Mira…” “Mom, what are you doing?” “Jasper's pack…corrupted.” I hurriedly said. Her eyes shone with shock, and she stared at me for a while. Then she took me by my arms and led me back to the bed. “We know mom. His wife told us two days ago.”

Even if Jasper had hired a master thief, there was no way he could copy it. I had just relaxed a little when Grayson appeared in front of me again, his face deathly pale. A bad feeling surged up instantly. Then I heard him say, “Jasper just posted his original concept online. The data… is exactly the same as ours after the modification.” “That’s impossible!” I rushed forward and grabbed the phone. On the screen, Jasper said regretfully, “Actually, when I first reached this stage, I already felt it was enough. It was perfect. However, someone managed to steal the most critical component.

JASPER I stared at the screen, waiting and refreshing, tapping my fingers on the table absent-mindedly. Access to the file was denied. I moved the cursor again and clicked into another section. It was the same thing. “Fuck!” I muttered under my breath, slamming the table with my fist. System fails, and file glitches, but not this clean. I leaned closer, resting my elbow on the desk, fingers brushing my jaw as I opened the backend logs. Searching for anything, any trace that someone had been here before me. Because if the records had been tampered with, the system would always show.

“It is said, the greatest sorrows reside here, hence they must be untouched to maintain their purity.” Jade explained the reasoning behind this malicious air, inhaling deeply, holding Kriss’ hand firmly. “It would be excruciating, you will see unbearable things but don’t forget to fight it.” Jade tried to encourage them. “How are we supposed to get out or get past it?” Zadicus asked, arching a brow perfectly at her. “Run out of the forest, but whatever you do, don’t lose your way back or else you will be lost forever.” Jade continued, knowing this must be perplexing to them.

His movements were not as controlled as before, and he was clicking quickly through the folders. Another set of demo files appeared. He opened one. I was convinced that it had worked, a second. Then the screen fluttered. Corrupted file. Unreadable data. My stomach dropped. “No,” I whispered. Garrick tried another. Same result. I reclined my chair, and stood up. “What is this?” “I don’t know,” he said, his voice tight. “Give me a second.” No, I replied, shaking my head. You said all was taken care of. You said there was nothing left.

“What does that mean?” “It means whatever they installed… it’s not just a virus,” he said carefully. “It’s embedded. It’s attacking internal files, backups, even external sync points.” My eyes hardened. “How much damage?” He hesitated. That alone told me everything. “Say it.” “Over sixty percent of active files are corrupted,” he said. Silence. Even the noise outside felt distant for a second. “And the funds?” I asked. “Gone,” he replied quietly. “Transferred through multiple channels without traces.”

The same file I had saved to my desktop, to the cloud, even backed up on a flash drive. I opened the backup. Same thing. I opened another version. Corrupted. No. No, no, no. I felt my pulse spike. My jaw clenched. The room began to blur slightly at the edges as my thoughts raced. Who would tamper with this? How the hell did this happen? Only two people had access to my full pitch file, me and Luca. And I trusted Luca with my damn life. I felt the first pang of cold clarity hit me like a slap.