Learning more about who's watching me

{This story is a P-a-t-r-e-o-n exclusive. The link is https://www.p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/easyread. Remove the dashes. Webnovel censors the word. I also have a basketball system story on my p-a-t-r-e-o-n if you wish to check it out.}

{The story on P-a-t-r-e-o-n is at 170 chapters.}

{Book 1 has been completed.}

~~~(POV: Scott Autumn)~~~

I slowly raise my head as I come out of sleep. I brought Jess and me out to the couch to watch some TV and relax. I remember dozing off. I move slightly, and that's when I hear a groan of protest. I look, and Jess is still in my arms.

She has her head against my bare chest and is sleeping. I'm still in my towel. I slowly lift her off me and place her on the couch. She moves slightly as I do it but otherwise stays asleep.

I stand up and walk towards my bedroom. I want to get dressed. I make it to my closet, putting on some underwear, shorts, and a t-shirt.

I walk out of my bedroom, and I head for the outside balcony looking at the city. I have many great features in my house. The one I spend the least amount of time doing is viewing LA from a distance. I pick up my laptop on the way, and as I do.

Jess begins squirming around a little on the couch. I don't bother being quiet as she's now slowly waking up. I head outside on the balcony with my laptop, and I sit down on one of the chairs.

I put my feet up on the railing and place the laptop on my lap. I open it up, and I head straight to the official website for The Aeternus Universe.

I'm not going there to check the forums or any posts. I'm going there to hack it. While it's likely guarded by an AI, I will be checking to see if any of the worms I sent out have made it into the system.

I work my hacking magic, and to my delight, I can access the files of high-ranking officials in GBFT Inc. Since their homes aren't protected by the AI, it was child play.

I use the COO's login and get access to the information network. Why set off alarms for the AI when I can impersonate the COO using a VPN and copying his IP address.

Now that I'm in the information network, I quickly write an algorithm that'll filter out and search for specific things that I need to know. I use my name as the main keyword. I launch the algorithm, and after 15 or so seconds.

A single file comes up. It's labeled Subject Primordium. This means someone in the company is keeping tabs on me, and more than one person knows about me.

I click on the file, and it says access denied. It seems like the COO of the company doesn't have access. This means only the investors, founders, and CEO of the company know about me.

That's at the very most, and that's a lot of people. I make a copy of the encrypted file and place it on my laptop. I log out, and I close the browser.

I create a program that'll decrypt the file and give me access. After writing the program, I let it run on the file. The tools and programs I have created to hack things are something blackhat hackers would kill for. "What are you doing out here... It's like 4 am... Come back to bed with me..." Jess pokes her head out the window.

It's not going to be long until the file is unlocked, and I don't want her seeing what's inside.

It could end up dragging her into whatever I'm already in. "I'm just doing some research. I won't be in for a while. So don't wait up." She sighs and closes the door as she walks away. I can't help looking as she does. The sway of her hips is distracting, to say the least.

I turn my attention back to the laptop and the file. A couple of seconds later, the file is decrypted, and I open it. To my surprise, it's filled with photos and timesheets of what I do and when I do it.

All before I started playing The Aeternus Universe. This means I've been watched before I started playing.

Project Primordium has been active for many years, and these pictures go all the way back to when I got my first gaming pod.

There are even screenshots of me in Gaia's Awakening. "This doesn't make any sense..." I can think of many reasons why they'd watch me after I became a Primordium, but why would they watch me before. Long before.

The email I got did say that I was chosen for the special race, and I was selected specifically. Was this what that email was referring to. When I got my pre-order confirmation?

I need more data to find out. Which means I need to find out who is watching me. There are no names or identities o in the file. Great.