The morning bustle of the fifth-floor marketing pod soon settled back into the rhythmic clatter of keyboards and the low murmur of emails being answered. Needing to prep the widescreen display for an upcoming 9:00 AM stakeholder sync on the seasonal beverage activations, Ryan gathered his notes and slipped into the small glass-walled conference room near the pantry. The room smelled faintly of stale lemon-scented cleaning spray and yesterday's conference coffee, its rectangular beechwood table reflecting the bright, grey-white harbour light pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Walking up to the sleek wall-mounted display hub used for laptop presentations, Ryan reached out to connect his own cord, only to pause. Protruding neatly from the side USB port of the crestron interface was a small, matte-black flash drive, entirely blank and unmarked by any brand logo or inventory sticker. It sat flush in the socket, blinking a faint, intermittent amber light that suggested it was actively powered, yet no laptop was tethered to the system.
A quiet ripple of unease flickered through Ryan's chest as he remembered the unauthorized shipping manifest tucked securely inside his leather folio just outside. Glancing back through the glass partition to ensure the rest of the floor remained engrossed in their morning routines, Ryan reached out, his thumb and forefinger lightly gripping the warm plastic casing of the drive. With a quick, silent motion, he eased it out of the port and slipped it straight into his trouser pocket, letting his hand drop naturally to his side as he turned back to set up for the morning's legitimate meetings.