Chapter 21
I climbed up a narrow metal ladder to reach the primary power distribution platform,
the heavy steel grating slick with condensed moisture and chemical residue from the gas vents.
I carefully placed the first thermite charge directly onto the massive copper busbars,
setting the remote electronic detonator for a tight three-minute countdown window.
Suddenly,
the heavy steel blast shutters at the far end of the room groaned violently,
and a massive explosive charge blew the doors completely inward with a blinding flash of light.
Four advanced combat cyborgs stepped through the smoke,
their heavily augmented bodies covered in thick carbon-fiber armor plates,
and their optical sensors glowing with a sinister,
blood-red crimson light.
They were armed with integrated arm-mounted submachine guns,
and they immediately opened fire on my position with terrifying,
computer-guided precision.
Bullets chewed through the metal walkway beneath my feet,
sending a rain of sparks and jagged steel fragments flying through the toxic Halon haze.
I threw myself flat onto the platform,
returning fire with my customized pistol,
but the heavy rounds simply bounced harmlessly off their thick armor plates with sharp metallic pings.
Lily saw the incoming threat from her position at the central console,
and she immediately began to type furiously on her tablet to assist me in the fight.
I am tapping into the room's high-voltage power routing system,
she screamed through her oxygen mask,
and I am going to overload the grid lines right beneath their mechanical feet.
She smashed her hand down onto the console's emergency override button,
and a massive,
blinding arc of pure electrical energy erupted from the floorboards beneath the cyborgs.
Millions of volts of electricity surged violently through their augmented chassis,
causing their internal processors to short-circuit in a spectacular explosion of blue sparks,
and dropping three of the advanced killers to the floor in a smoking,
motionless heap.
The final cyborg,
however,
managed to successfully calibrate its internal grounding systems,
and it continued to march forward through the electrical storm with cold,
unstoppable malice.
It leveled its integrated weapon directly at Lily's position,
its targeting laser painting a bright red dot right onto her chest.
I didn't hesitate for a single fraction of a second.
I lunged off the high platform,
dropping twenty feet through the air like a stone,
and I slammed my entire body weight directly into the cyborg's mechanical shoulder.
The massive impact carried us both crashing heavily into a towering server rack,
shattering the delicate electronic blades into thousands of pieces,
and disrupting the machine's targeting sequence entirely.
We tumbled onto the floor in a brutal,
tangled melee,
the cyborg's cold metal hands wrapping violently around my throat,
and squeezing with a crushing,
superhuman strength that completely cut off my remaining air supply.
I frantically reached for my tactical knife,
driving the razor-sharp blade directly into the exposed wiring harness beneath its robotic chin.
The cyborg stiffened violently,
its red optical sensors flickering erratically before dying completely into darkness,
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and its heavy,
armored body collapsed lifelessly on top of me like a solid block of concrete.
