Chapter 9 - The Final ProtocolOutside the panic room door, the heavy thudding stopped.
A moment later, a blinding beam of white light sliced right through the steel door as if it were made of paper. The metal hissed, bubbling and melting away under some kind of high-frequency plasma torch.
"Time's up, Clara," the creature's voice boomed, chillingly close now.
"Initiating purge in ten seconds," the automated voice of the terminal droned coldly from the console speakers.
"Nine..."
The melted steel of the panic room door collapsed inward, and the tall, tailored figure of the impostor stepped through the smoke, his cobalt eyes blazing with unnatural fury.
"Erase them," the creature commanded the air.
"Eight... Seven..."
I grabbed Emma tightly, pulling her beneath the heavy steel console and shielding her small body with my own.
"Six... Five..."
The creature lunged forward, reaching out a cold, silver-gel hand to grab my hair.
"Four... Three..."
I slammed my palm down onto the master execution key on the keyboard.
"Two... One..."
The screen flashed blinding white. A shockwave of pure energy ripped through the room, the walls of the house dissolving into pixelated static like an old television screen losing its signal.
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The creature screamed—a horrific, multi-layered sound of a thousand synthetic voices dying all at once—as its body shattered into millions of glowing fragments of light.
And then... total, absolute darkness.
