Chapter 38
The final door at the top of the stairwell was reinforced steel, its digital lock glowing with a solid, angry red light that barred our way.
Collins stepped forward, pulled an electronic override device from her kit, and attached the magnetic leads directly to the lock's exposed wiring.
The small screen on her device flashed through thousands of code combinations a second, trying to force a digital bypass through the encryption.
Behind us, Ethan let out a soft, frightened cry, the loud noises and tense environment finally breaking through his brave silence.
Claire rocked him gently, tears of exhaustion spilling over her eyelashes as she whispered words of comfort into his tiny ear.
"Come on, come on," Collins hissed, her sweat-stained face illuminated by the rapid blue blinking of the cracking tool.
With a sharp, satisfying chime, the red light on the heavy steel door flipped to green, and the mechanical bolts slid back with a loud thunk.
James pushed the door open carefully, revealing a breathtaking, surreal scene of devastation inside the main executive reception lobby.
The massive floor-to-ceiling glass windows were shattered, letting the cold mountain wind howl through the luxurious, minimalist office space.
Bullet holes peppered the expensive mahogany walls, and papers floated through the air like a strange, white snowfall over ruined leather furniture.
Several federal tactical officers lay wounded near the elevator banks, being treated by their comrades under the command of Agent Bennett himself.
Bennett looked up as we entered, his face covered in soot and blood, a look of profound relief washing over his tired features.
"Thank God you made it," Bennett breathed, stumbling toward us while gripping a nasty flesh wound on his left forearm.
"Brooks' remaining automated defense turrets are holding the corridor to the central mainframe vault; we can't get any closer without being shredded."
"He's locked inside the vault with the master terminal, and the network deletion script is already at eighty percent completion."
I looked past Bennett toward a long, narrow hallway lined with sleek, white carbon-fiber panels that looked completely untouched by the battle.
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At the end of that hallway sat a massive, circular vault door, glowing with an intense, pulsing blue light that marked our final destination.
We had twenty minutes left before the Black Slate vanished forever, taking our future along with it into the digital abyss.
