Building a Business Empire with my Technological System

Chapter 201: The Direct Contact

February 5th, 2027.

As Michael was working in his office, a screen popped up on the display of the monitor.

"What the heck?" Michael read the display and he saw it was an incoming call from an unidentified caller.

Curious, Michael tapped the answer button. The screen flickered for a moment before settling on a chilling image. On his monitor, two men, their faces obscured by black cloth masks, stood ominously. Between them, bound to a plain metal chair, was Dr. Villanueva. His clothes were disheveled, and bruises marred his visible skin.

His head lolled forward slightly, an indication of his weakened state.

"Dr. Villanueva!" Michael exclaimed.

One of the masked men leaned forward, his voice distorted slightly by a voice modulator. "Mr. Reyes, we assume we have your full attention now," he said coldly.

Michael's heart pounded in his chest as he responded, "Yes, you do. What do you want?"

"We want you to listen very carefully," the other man interjected, his tone just as icy. "There are things we require from you if you ever want to see your precious doctor unharmed again."

Michael clenched his fists, anger rising in him, yet he knew he had to control his emotions.

"I'm listening. Tell me what you need."

The first man stepped closer to the camera, ensuring his masked face filled the screen.

"We will contact you again with our demands. Do not involve the police or next time you will not recognize Dr. Villanueva."

The screen went black abruptly, leaving Michael staring at the darkened monitor.

"What the…" Michael uttered, he was shocked that they'd drop the call in an instant. He was ready to listen to their demands. However, this is also a great opportunity for him to locate their position. But the call only took about ten seconds, and Michael knew that was a tight window to work with. Nevertheless, he swiftly moved into action, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

First, Michael accessed the call log through his secure network interface. He quickly initiated a trace of the IP address from which the call originated, using an advanced packet sniffer to capture any data packets still lingering in the network.

"Let's see where you're hiding," he muttered under his breath.

As Michael accessed the call log, he quickly realized that the IP address from which the call originated was masked, likely routed through multiple VPNs and proxies to obscure its true origin. This was a common tactic among those who knew their way around digital security, and it significantly complicated the tracking process.

Undeterred, Michael launched a more sophisticated tracing protocol. He employed an advanced network forensic tool designed to analyze packet routing paths and decrypt the layers of IP masking.

"Let's peel back these layers," he murmured as he initiated the sequence.

The tool worked by tracing the hops that the data packets took across the network, attempting to identify the physical endpoints of each proxy server. Michael monitored as the software displayed each node's location and the probable latency associated with each jump. This information was crucial as it helped him hypothesize the most likely path the data traveled, despite the obfuscation attempts.

As the system worked, Michael realized that simply pinpointing a physical location wouldn't be enough given the complexities of masked IPs. He decided to integrate a pattern analysis module, which scanned for behavioral patterns in the data routing that might indicate frequent points of origin or common pathways used by the kidnappers in their previous communications.

This type of analysis could reveal vulnerabilities in their security practices or preferred networks.

The software finally suggested a probable region based on recurring endpoints in the packet paths. It wasn't as precise as Michael would have liked, but it narrowed down the search area significantly—a less populated industrial zone.

However, as he was about to call Carter and inform him about a task he'd give him, their abductors called again. The screen lit up, showing the same grim scene as before. The two masked men stood, imposing as ever, with Dr. Villanueva, who appeared even more disheveled and weary.

Michael braced himself as the voice modulator crackled to life once more.

I hope you didn't call the police while we were out," the man said in a menacing tone, his eyes scanning the environment as if he could see through the camera.

"What do you mean? I wouldn't do such a thing that would jeopardize the safety of my employee, plus I don't think calling the police here would be smart as you may have a mole with them."

"Hoh?" one of them mused.

"I'm not stupid. You abductors are probably high-profile criminals, or at least hired by someone who plays in the same league as I do, maybe even higher. This isn't an amateur operation; it's calculated and well-executed. Who's backing you? What's their interest in Medipod?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. The masked men seemed taken aback by Michael's directness and his accurate assessment of the situation.

Finally, the one who had been speaking most cleared his throat, the modulator distorting his chuckle into something more menacing. "Mr. Reyes, you're smarter than we gave you credit for. But smart men also know when they're outmatched. You'll get our demands soon—"

"Why don't you cut the shit and tell me what your demands are?" Michael said frustratingly. "You want to know about the Medipod right? Of course, that may be the only reason. Dr. Villanueva is useless to you as he knows nothing about the Medipod. He knows how to operate it for sure but not everyone who knows how to operate a machine knows how it is created."

"Well, yes, it's the Medipod."

"So what do you want to know about Medipod?" Michael asked simply.

"Woah…aren't you quite being cooperative."

"Just hurry up," Michael urged.

"We want to know everything that is classified in Medipod."

"So your contractor can copy the Medipod and compete with my business, I see," Michael said. "In that case, for Dr. Villanueva's life, I will give you the schematics and the technical know-how of those classified devices. Let him go and I'll transfer it to you."

"No, you give the schematics to us first and then we'll let him go."

"Yeah like it's going to happen," Michael scoffed. "I know your tactics, the moment you get what you want you'll kill him. Well if you kill him, then I am no longer bound to do anything for you. If you want those schematics, you'll let him go first."

The masked man paused, likely mulling over Michael's counteroffer.

"We will call you back in two minutes."

And suddenly, the connection died.

"What the fuck?" Michael clicked his tongue. Well good thing, he can contact Carter now and inform them of his findings.