Chapter 480
Chapter 480:
“Do not touch him, Lucas,” she said, her voice cutting through the tension like a scalpel. “That is exactly what they want. A physical altercation will get us disqualified p>
She stepped in front of Lucas and faced Chase. She was half a head shorter than him, but her presence was suffocating. She regarded him with the clinical detachment of a scientist observing a defective specimen.
“Chase,” Isolde said, her voice carrying clearly to the surrounding rows, “if your code is even half as filthy as your mouth, your entire system architecture must be infested with fatal bugs p>
Chase’s smug smile disappeared. He took a step back, visibly unsteadied by her absolute composure.
“You just wait,” he muttered.
The head judge’s voice echoed over the PA system, signaling the start of the competition.
“Round one: Mars Base Life Support Simulation p>
The massive digital screen behind the stage illuminated with real-time environmental parameters — violent dust storms, extreme sub-zero temperatures, and elevated radiation levels.
InnoTech was called first.
Belle walked to the podium. Despite being reprimanded by Grayson that morning, her makeup was flawless and her smile radiant. She projected a complex 3D model of a Closed-Loop Circulation System. The efficiency numbers on the screen looked impossibly clean.
At the VIP judges’ table, Professor Nelson adjusted his glasses and frowned, his pen tapping steadily against his notepad. The numbers were too perfect. They ignored the chaos of entropy entirely.
𝖳𝗁𝘦 𝗺o𝗌t 𝗽𝘰p𝘂𝗹а𝗋 ոо𝗏е𝗅ѕ о𝘯
“Next, Carson Dynamics,” the judge called.
Isolde climbed the steps to the main console. She pulled a silver USB drive from her pocket and slotted it into the terminal.
The massive screen behind her instantly exploded in blinding red. A deafening siren tore through the hall.
WARNING: MALICIOUS VIRUS DETECTED. SYSTEM LOCKDOWN INITIATED.
The crowd gasped. Whispers erupted into loud, overlapping murmurs.
In the front row, Belle raised a hand to her mouth to conceal a vicious, triumphant smile.
The host rushed to the stage with a microphone. “Carson Dynamics, your files are corrupted. If you cannot clear the virus and project your model in exactly three minutes, you will be forced to forfeit this round p>
In the pit, Harper clutched her hair in panic. “How is this possible? I ran a triple diagnostic before we left the room p>
Isolde stared at the red warning screen, and understanding settled over her immediately. Chase bumping into her had not simply been an insult — it was a distraction. He had swapped her drive, or someone had infected the console before she walked up.
She took one slow, deliberate breath. The panic flooding the room did not touch her.
She reached out and yanked the USB drive from the port, then dropped it on the floor.
“I do not need a drive,” Isolde said into her headset microphone.
She opened a raw command prompt window on the terminal. The screen turned pitch black, a single white cursor blinking in the silence.
“I will rewrite the core simulation algorithm live,” Isolde announced.
The hall erupted in mocking laughter.
“Live coding?” an engineer in the third row scoffed. “A full life-support algorithm? She thinks she’s in the Matrix p>