Chapter 1: The App That Shouldn’t Exist

Lex Grey sat hunched at his desk, eyes glued to his computer screen. The clock read 9:57 PM. Almost twelve hours since he’d first arrived at the office that morning, and still, the blinking cursor taunted him, refusing to yield to the solution he needed. He sighed, rolling his chair back, the wheels squeaking against the cheap carpeting.

“Lex, you still here?” came a voice from the doorway. Lex turned to see Tessa, his best friend and the closest thing he had to an ally at work. She was holding two coffee cups, her hair slightly disheveled from a long day of investigating whatever corruption she was chasing this week.

“Yeah, just trying to get this patch sorted before tomorrow's launch,” he said, giving her a tired smile. She handed him one of the cups and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you always need to play the martyr?” she asked. “You know Damien should be doing that patch. It’s his code, his screw-up.”

Lex shrugged. Damien, his boss, wasn’t one for accountability. He loved taking the credit, but when things went wrong, it was always Lex who had to clean up the mess.

“Someone’s gotta do it, Tess,” he replied. “And if I don’t, then I’m just giving them more ammunition to keep me where I am.”

Tessa shook her head, leaning against the desk. “You deserve better, Lex. You’re wasting your time here. These guys are never going to give you what you’re worth.”

Lex looked away, taking a sip of the coffee. The bitterness matched the knot in his stomach. He knew she was right. He’d spent years working himself to exhaustion, hoping for a promotion that never came, and watching as others—louder, more charismatic, but certainly not smarter—got ahead. It was exhausting, and each passing day made him feel more like a cog in someone else’s machine.

He watched as Tessa waved a goodbye and left the office, her words echoing in his head. Wasting your time. Lex glanced back at his screen, the patch finally running smoothly. He sighed, clicking save and standing up to stretch. His body ached from sitting too long, and he rubbed his neck as he walked to the windows overlooking the city.

The lights of the metropolis spread out before him, a grid of ambition and energy that seemed almost mocking now. Skyscrapers glowed, each representing power, wealth, and a promise that always seemed just out of reach. His phone buzzed in his pocket, breaking his reverie. He pulled it out absentmindedly, expecting another email or a late-night request from someone above him.

Instead, it was an unfamiliar icon. A dark screen with a symbol he couldn’t quite place: a crown, edged with digital circuitry, flickering as if alive.

“Install The CEO System?” read the message on the screen.

Lex frowned. He didn’t remember downloading anything. He tried to swipe it away, but the prompt stayed there, persistent.

“Stupid malware,” he muttered, tapping the screen harder. The app refused to close. He sighed, deciding to deal with it later. He turned off his phone and grabbed his bag, ready to call it a night.

Back at his apartment, Lex tossed his keys on the counter, exhaustion catching up to him. The apartment was dark, only the streetlights casting slanted shadows through the blinds. He collapsed onto the couch, kicking off his shoes and closing his eyes.

A part of him didn’t want to think about work, about Damien, or Tessa’s words. But they kept swirling in his mind, each one a reminder of how little control he had. He opened his eyes, glaring at the ceiling.

“Why does it always feel like I’m one step behind?” he asked the empty room. His phone, lying on the coffee table, buzzed again, lighting up with the same icon.

“Install The CEO System?” it asked, as if it had heard him.

Lex sat up, curiosity piqued despite his better judgment. He picked up the phone, and this time, instead of swiping it away, he tapped “Install.”

The screen went dark for a moment, and then text began to appear.

Welcome, Alexander Grey. You have been selected.

The path to success is paved with choices. The system will guide you—should you choose to trust it.

Lex blinked, staring at the screen. It felt like some kind of elaborate prank, but something about it seemed... personal. The system knew his full name. He tapped on the screen again, and a new message appeared.

First Mission: Identify the Saboteur. Rewards: Increased Influence, Key Opportunities Unlocked.

Before he could even process what that meant, a list of names popped up—people from his company. His coworkers. Damien’s name was at the top of the list, glowing in a subtle red.

Lex’s heart began to pound. It was absurd. How could an app know anything about the people at his job? But something deep inside him, some gut feeling born of years of frustration, urged him to keep reading.

Hint: A recent error in the code was no mistake. The saboteur has hidden their intentions behind incompetence. Reveal them, and the system will help you rise.

Lex’s breath caught. Damien. It made too much sense. The “mistake” that he’d been forced to fix—the one Damien was responsible for—wasn't an accident? It was deliberate?

His hand trembled slightly as he held the phone. The promise was there, a way to finally get back at the people who had been keeping him down. It was crazy. It was irrational. But it was also the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

With a deep breath, Lex made his decision. He tapped “Accept Mission.”

Suddenly, the screen shifted, displaying lines of code that seemed to blur and twist before his eyes. Then, it stopped, leaving only two words:

“Trust Us.”

Lex exhaled, his pulse quickening. For the first time in a long while, he felt a thrill—not of fear, but of something else. A sense that maybe, just maybe, things were about to change.

He set the phone down, his mind already working through the possibilities. If Damien really was sabotaging the code, he’d find proof. He’d reveal it. And maybe then, for once, he’d get what he deserved.

The CEO System. Whatever it was, it had promised him a way up. And right now, that was exactly what he needed.

As Lex drifted off to sleep that night, a faint smile touched his lips, and the city lights outside seemed just a little less mocking.

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