Chapter 41
Claire stepped forward, her voice cutting through the mechanical hum of the servers like a sharp piece of shattered glass.
"The silver drive doesn't just contain a bypass code, Charles," she said, her tone filled with a cold, triumphant certainty that made Brooks flinch.
"It contains the original source code of the entire architecture, which means it has administrative authority over the deletion script itself."
Brooks' smile faded instantly, his eyes darting down to the master monitor screen where the purple progress bar was actively rewriting his commands.
The red countdown numbers on the screen froze at exactly 00:08:12, trembling as the new data forced the system into an administrative override.
"You arrogant little piece of trash," Brooks hissed, his aristocratic composure cracking to reveal the pathetic, desperate monster beneath.
He raised the silver revolver, aiming it directly at my chest while his left hand flew across the backup keyboard to force a manual wipe.
Before his finger could tighten on the trigger, a deafening crash echoed from the vault entrance as James and Collins burst into the chamber.
James didn't hesitate, firing a single, high-powered round that struck the armrest of Brooks' chair, shattering the wood and throwing him off balance.
The revolver clattered out of his hand, spinning across the glass floor and disappearing into the darkness beneath the server racks.
Collins sprinted up the platform steps, tackling Brooks to the ground and pinning his arms behind his back with practiced, brutal efficiency.
"Charles Brooks, you are under federal arrest for high treason and corporate espionage," Collins growled, slamming his face against the glass console.
Brooks laughed, a wet, choking sound as he looked up at me, his teeth stained with blood but his eyes still burning with malice.
"It doesn't matter if you stop the deletion," he whispered, his voice desperate as the plastic zip-ties snapped around his wrists.
"The data on that drive will expose everyone—presidents, generals, billionaires—you will unleash chaos upon the entire world if you publish it."
May you like
"They will hunt you down to the ends of the earth to keep those secrets buried; you will never be safe, and your son will inherit your grave."
I stepped past him, ignoring his frantic warnings as I reached the master keyboard and looked down at the flashing confirmation prompt.
