My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 160

In a spacious, dimly lit chamber, dozens of monitors lined the walls in a panoramic display of the facility’s every corner.

At the center of this technological hub, two men sat in high-backed swivel chairs, their silhouettes cast in a pale blue glow.

One guard monitored the northern array of screens while the other focused on the southern bank, sitting with their backs turned to one another.

Despite this strategic formation, the sheer volume of data was overwhelming; they were physically unable to scrutinize every single frame simultaneously, leaving several displays unwatched in the periphery.

Overhead, a heavy ceiling fan whirred with rhythmic vigor, circulating the warm, stagnant air as the sentinels maintained their silent vigil.

Suddenly, a sharp beep resonated from the wrist of one of the guards.

He tore his gaze away from the flickering monitors to check his watch, his brow furrowing as he read the notification.

It was a scheduled alarm.

’Right. Time to prepare the specific footage for Captain Jake,’ the man mused inwardly.

He reached for a heavy, leather-bound ledger and began flipping through the pages with practiced speed.

’Two halls away from the tech aspect classroom.... Two halls away,’ he repeated the mantra under his breath, his finger tracing the lines of the log until it came to a sharp halt.

’That’s camera 103.’

Closing the book with a resonant snap, the guard stood up and paced toward the center of the room.

His eyes scanned the wall where numerical labels were affixed above each screen.

It didn’t take long for his vision to lock onto the correct display.

Wasting no time, he approached the station and began inputting commands into a haptic keyboard that floated just beneath the primary monitor.

’The Captain said he required everything from 3:00 PM onward... 3:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 3...’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The man froze mid-keystroke as a sharp knock echoed against the reinforced door.

He turned to exchange a confused look with his companion.

The second guard didn’t hesitate, shouting toward the entrance.

"Who’s there? Come in!"

The heavy door creaked open, and a young girl stepped into the sterile environment.

Close behind her were two boys, each carrying small, covered trays in their hands.

"Oh! It’s Chloe."

***

The girl beamed at the two men, her smile radiant as she stepped further into the room with the boys following in her wake.

Beneath the edges of the trays they carried, the mechanical spiders Van had provided were tucked away, clinging to the underside of the metal.

"What brings you here today?" the man at the keyboard asked, though his voice lacked any real suspicion.

Chloe’s smile widened, appearing perfectly innocent.

"Do I really need a formal reason to visit you both again? Didn’t you two tell me to drop by anytime after the last time we spoke?"

The men exchanged a brief look, the memory of their first meeting with the girl resurfacing.

The circumstances of their acquaintance had been quite peculiar.

They had been performing their routine duties, eyes glued to the monitors, when they spotted a volatile situation unfolding on one of the secondary screens.

It was a classic case of bullying, but this time, it involved a group of girls with Chloe as the target.

Usually, the guards were conditioned to ignore these minor scuffles—much like the countless others they witnessed daily—but the middle-aged man currently standing at the floating keyboard had found it impossible to look away.

To Ray, the man’s warm smile appeared more unsettling than comforting, but to the guard, Chloe was a living reminder of the daughter he had tragically lost in an accident years before joining the Corps.

The street where that fatal incident occurred had been equipped with cameras, yet when he had desperately begged for the footage to find the driver, he was told the equipment had been malfunctioning.

That failure had sparked a fire in him, leading him to join the Aspirant Corps—not as a frontline soldier, but as a guardian of the archives, vowing never to let another person suffer from a lack of oversight.

When he had witnessed Chloe being harassed, his fatherly instincts had flared.

Recalling the helplessness of his past, he had intervened by dispatching a nearby militant to her location, ultimately rescuing her from her tormentors.

When the militant was thanked, he had refused to take the credit, instead directing her to the smiling man in the control room who had actually orchestrated the rescue.

That was exactly how she had discovered the location of the security hub.

"That’s right, dear, but don’t you have important classes to attend right now?" the smiling man asked, his tone paternal.

Chloe nodded gracefully.

"I do have lectures, but I figured I should come check up on you both and perhaps bring something for you to munch on while you work."

The men’s expressions melted into warm, genuine smiles at the thoughtfulness of the young girl standing before them.

It was then that their attention shifted to the two boys lingering behind her.

"Who are they?"

Chloe turned to glance at Kai and Ray for a brief moment before looking back at the guards.

"They are... friends. They saw me struggling with the heavy trays, so they kindly offered to assist me."

The men nodded understandingly before pointing toward their respective workstations.

"They can drop them here," they said in unison.

The boys walked forward hastily, setting the trays down for the men.

Ray placed his close to where the smiling man was stationed, while Kai deposited his on the desk belonging to the second guard.

Glancing at the monitor the smiling man stood before, Ray noticed a command was already halfway inputted into the floating keyboard.

’Could this be the one we’re looking for?’

Realizing he was lingering longer than was safe, Ray quickly turned away and retreated toward Chloe’s side.

"That was so thoughtful of you, dear; thank you for that. Now, you three need to hurry along to your classes."

"Sure. We will. Take care of yourselves," Chloe replied with a final smile.

Without waiting another second, the trio turned and began walking out of the room.

A faint whirring sound resonated for a fraction of a second from beneath the two trays.

With the speed of lightning, the mechanical spiders scuttled toward the screens, ready to commence their work.

Just as Chloe reached the door, the smiling man called out, causing her to pause.

"Dear, I hope you aren’t facing any more troubles lately?"

Chloe hesitated for a heartbeat before slowly turning around to beam at the man.

"Of course not. I have strong friends protecting me now," she replied, gesturing toward the boys.

Nodding at her, he watched as the girl exited the room with her companions.

He lingered for a few seconds, staring at the closed door while, behind his back, the spiders were already connecting themselves to the internal circuitry of the screens.

With a weary sigh, he turned around to resume the task he had started.

Meanwhile, the moment the trio exited the room and the heavy door hissed shut, Ray tapped his watch and whispered urgently.

"Van. The spiders are in; it’s your turn. We are heading your way now."

A few moments later, Van’s voice crackled in reply.

"Roger."