A new day began. AstraQ was preparing for the unveiling of its new line of Superconducting Computing machines—universal gate-based quantum systems far more powerful, designed to eventually integrate with their annealing machines.
Adrian walked along the company's park area and spotted Sam sitting nearby, eating his fast-food breakfast.
"Hm, that looks like a sandwich with cheese and cold ham. Fancy. Tasty," Adrian said as he approached and sat down.
Sam glanced up. "If you're here for food, I've got no spare bites."
"No worries," Adrian chuckled. "Just wanted to sit here for a moment, if you don't mind. The cafeteria food is awful. Anyway… the company's pushing ahead with Superconducting Computing—two systems in one. It can analyze pretty much anything, though most of the qubit budget still goes to annealing."
"Ugh," Sam muttered. "I'm not a fan of superconductors. Needing liquid helium and cryogenic cooling just to keep the system alive? Way too expensive."
"They're chasing the trend," Adrian replied. "By the way, I heard you used to be in the military?"
Sam shrugged. "Just for a short while. I'm with the United Nations now. I used to work in Gaza during the relief operations. So many starving people there… war is devastating. That's why I want to help build a truly useful quantum computer—something that can find better solutions for global development, for science. Something that can change the world."
"Everything has two sides, though," Adrian murmured.
Just then, Adrian's phone buzzed. A message from Director Lynda—urgent. Both experts were needed at a scene. A quantum computer explosion at Paul Trap Labs. The victim: scientist Marek. Along with Adrian and Sam, another specialist from their company would be present: Dr. Hana.
"Adrian," Hana greeted him. "Long time no see—since back when you were still working on ion-trap quantum systems."
"What happened here?" Adrian asked.
"A blast," Hana said. "Ion traps run on RF voltages ranging from hundreds to thousands of volts. Something short-circuited. The trap blew, and Marek died from the electric shock. Someone raised the RF gain far above the safety limit, hacked the ION lock system, and generated a fake authentication key so the alarms wouldn't trip."
She held out a piece of paper. "And look what I found after the explosion. A message: 'In memory of ten years ago.' You remember, don't you?"
"Oh, how could I forget," Adrian said quietly. "That was the year all of us—me, you, Marek… and Leon—worked together on the quantum project."
"Sorry to cut you two off," Sam interjected, "but the director wants Adrian and me back. The government team has already collected enough evidence here. We've got another situation to deal with. By the way… can I ask what your company is researching exactly?"
"We build ion-trap quantum computers," Hana said. "We trap ions using oscillating RF electric fields and control them with lasers. With extremely high precision. Our projects involve simulating exotic phases of matter—phases that are impossible or nearly impossible to produce in real materials, but can be modeled with ions arranged into virtual crystal lattices. We also simulate proteins, enzymes, DNA, and RNA on ion traps."
"Fascinating," Sam said. "I'm actually a big fan of Ion systems. If we get a chance, I'd love to talk more with you."
Back at the AstraQ conference room, Director Lynda briefed them on Paul Trap's situation.
"First, we have the data theft at Omega Security," she began. "And now the RF explosion at Paul Trap Labs. Based on the investigation, these two incidents are connected. The stolen files from Omega concern a security design for a breakthrough in topological error correction—a method that reduces the required number of qubits from millions to just a few thousand. And Marek, the one who died in the explosion, was among the researchers involved in that topological project."
Adrian's expression changed. "I remember now… there was one more friend on that project—Leon. He disappeared after what happened. Back then, we were working on a topological quantum computer. Leon brought his son to visit the lab when no one else was around. Somehow, the pressure in the cryogenic helium system spiked. The tank exploded. His son died. Leon spent years in a coma. I… haven't checked on him in so long."
"He's not dead," Lynda said. "He woke up years ago. After a few treatments, he vanished."
"So he is connected," Adrian whispered. "This explosion resembles what happened before… though this one was electrical."
"Are you sure?" Sam asked. "Why would he do this? Because of his son?"
Adrian's phone buzzed again. "I just received more info. A military test aircraft using quantum sensors from Q-Sky Sensors crashed into the sea due to vibrational interference. Someone placed a tiny vibration device on board, causing the quantum sensor to miscalibrate during takeoff."
"Q-Sky Sensors… that's Marcus Quinton's company?" Sam asked.
"Yes. And he was one of the investors in Leon's topological error correction project."
"Then he may be the next target."
"Don't worry," Lynda said. "Agents are already assigned to protect him. Your task now is to prepare for tomorrow's ministerial presentation on our quantum systems—what advantages we have over other companies. And remember, Marcus will be there. I expect… interesting events."
"We're talking about lives here," Sam protested. "This feels like terrorism. Dangerous stuff."
"Agents will be there," Lynda said. "If the culprit shows up… he won't escape. Whatever he's after."