CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY NINE – NEW PRECAUTIONS

"Alright people, listen up!" Kayla's voice cut through the assembled din like a drill sergeant calling cadets to attention. Around the long mahogany table, department heads and senior leadership snapped to rapt focus. "We're implementing a raft of new security protocols effective immediately. Everything from background screening to financial transaction approvals is getting overhauled with an extreme prejudice." She paced before the floor-to-ceiling windows, keeping her tone clipped and authoritative. "If it seems excessive or paranoid, that's by design. We're going to be putting processes under a microscope in a way this company has never experienced before. I'm talking multiple signoffs, checksums, layers of encryption and authentications..." A low grumble rippled around the table at the prospect of so much red tape. Kayla nailed the dissenters with an adamantine stare. "Let me stop you right there before the bellyaching begins. We just survived an attempted cybernetic saturati