Interface: A Techno Thriller Read Online Free PDF Page A

in."
    "Don't keep him waiting. Oh, and don't forget to take your ID card or you'll get locked in the stairwell. The building keeps track of you through your ID, but if you don't have it... Well, people keep getting stuck in all sorts of places."
    Tom quickly entered his password on the computer system. He felt a slight tingle in his fingertips as he typed and flinched back, wiping his hands on his jacket to earth the static. The screen jumped and an error message appeared.
    Perhaps they had been hasty in moving in to the building. He looked under his desk for the computer terminal and crouched low to reach the reboot button. As his finger hit it, he felt the blood rush to his head. He had a brief moment of intense alertness, then suddenly pain was lancing through his brain, like it was burning. His tongue felt immense in his mouth, as if it would choke him.
    He jerked back from the computer and fell sideways. He just had time to notice the CCTV system, a large fish-eye lens sparkling in the corner, before darkness took him.

NINE

    BRADLEY ADJUSTED HIS SHARPLY PRESSED suit as he descended in one of the express lifts to Level 60: the first of the technical floors. He had given up waiting for the lawyer and told his assistant to cancel the meeting. There were more important things to deal with: things that he could share with only a chosen few.
    The heads of each of the research and production divisions were now located on Levels 59 and 60, with their teams in the floors below. The idea was that the layout would help the team leaders to work openly and cooperatively together, sharing ideas and innovations.  
    The lift juddered twice then finally reached Level 60. Bradley rolled his eyes as the doors opened slowly. The building still had many teething problems: they should not have been moving in yet, but everything had been planned assuming things would be ready. The old lease for the old premises had expired: the old networks and phone lines had been switched off. Even if they hadn't, it wasn't Bern's style to delay. However, the building faults were nothing compared to the disaster on CERUS's horizon.
    Bradley stopped at a touch screen, held his security pass over a reading device, and called up a plan of the floor. At least that was working. He turned right, heading to the office of Ed Holm, Head of Technology Research. A sign on the door proclaimed 'STOP! TRESPASSERS WILL BE ELECTROCUTED!' Bradley walked in to find himself amid chaos.
    "Can it wait?" Ed Holm asked, looking up from the two laptops in front of him. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."
    Bradley looked around the room. Boxes and boxes of files, bursting open and spilling their contents, covered the floor. There were a number of computer cases, routers and a multitude of cables, plus a media player sound-dock and a rather neglected-looking bonsai tree.  
    "How did you make a mess so quickly? You only moved in today."
    Holm removed his tiny circular-rimmed glasses and wiped them on a cloth. "Actually I've been moving stuff over for weeks. Didn't want my gear getting muddled with that of the great unwashed."  
    Bradley sighed. "Did you get my message?"
    "What message? Oh, the one about a meeting tomorrow? Can't we deal with whatever you want then?" His phone beeped and he glanced at it. "Where is Armstrong? He's supposed to be briefing me on the Phase 3 analysis."
    "This is important."
    "Everyone thinks their stuff is important."
    "We meet tomorrow at 7pm on Level 90. Bern will be there."
    Holm blinked. "Really?" His tone was suddenly cautious.  
    "You recall that confidential side project? I need a plan to take it forward."
    "Well, I have a theoretical production timetable for you."  
    "Good. Be prepared to explain it." Bradley turned and left, with Holm staring after him.  
    Bradley headed next to the opposite corner of the floor and the office of Professor Stefan Heidn. Heidn's office was a marked contrast to Holm's: files were neatly arranged on