Chapter 6 - Thirty Seconds to ZeroThe elevator doors chimed and slid open on the 60th floor.
Waiting for us in the vast, glass-walled penthouse was Dr. Vance, standing in front of a giant mainframe server surrounded by eight heavily armed mercenaries.
“Welcome to the end of your reign, Damian,” Vance announced through a loudspeaker, a twisted grin on his face. “Did you really think I wouldn't anticipate Viktor cutting the power? I built this system specifically to kill you!”
Damian collapsed onto one knee on the marble floor, his right hand clutching his chest as the electromagnetic pulse forced his heart into fatal arrhythmia. He couldn't even lift his gun.
“Damian!” I screamed, trying to pull him up, but his weight was too much.
The mercenaries pointed their automatic rifles straight at us.
“Finish them,” Vance ordered cold-bloodedly. “Kill the maid and the child first. I want Damian to watch his little safe-keepers die before his heart explodes.”
Two mercenaries stepped forward, raising their weapons toward me and Lila.
In that moment of absolute terror, a mother’s instinct took over. I didn't have a gun. I didn't have training. But I had a heavy metal fire extinguisher attached to the elevator wall beside me.
With a scream born of pure desperation, I yanked the extinguisher off the wall and swung it with all my strength, slamming it directly into the chest of the lead mercenary.
CRASH!
The man stumbled back, spraying wild gunfire into the ceiling.
At the exact same second, Lila didn't run. She didn't hide. She sprinted straight toward the mainframe server!
“Stop that child!” Vance yelled in panic.
Lila slid across the smooth floor, dodging a guard’s reach. She reached the central wiring hub at the base of the server. While everyone else saw a complex wall of code and electronics, Lila felt the violent, high-frequency hum vibrating through the steel frame.
She reached into her small coat pocket and pulled out the heavy gold Volkov medallion Damian had given her.
With all her tiny strength, Lila jammed the thick gold metal disk directly into the exposed high-voltage cooling vent of the server node!
SPARK! FLASH!
A blinding blue arc of electricity exploded from the server! Gold, being an elite electrical conductor, instantly short-circuited the entire primary control board!
A violent shockwave tore through the room as smoke billowed from the server bank. The high-pitched noise vanished instantly.
On the floor, Damian let out a massive gasp of air as the lethal pressure in his chest completely vanished. His normal heart rhythm restored itself in an instant.
Before the mercenaries could recover from the blinding flash, Damian surged to his feet with the speed of a hungry predator. He fired six shots in under three seconds, taking down the remaining guards with lethal, pinpoint accuracy.
The penthouse went dead silent, save for the hum of dying electronics and the hiss of smoke.
Dr. Vance backed away slowly, his hands raised in terror as he backed up against the floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the Baltimore skyline.
“Damian... wait! I can remove the implant! I’m the only surgeon who knows how to disarm it completely!” Vance begged, his voice trembling.
Damian walked up to Vance, his eyes colder than the winter rain outside.
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“I don't need you anymore, Vance,” Damian said quietly. “My little girl already broke your machine.”
Damian grabbed Vance by the collar and hurled him through the reinforced glass window. Vance’s screams faded into the dark night as he fell sixty stories into the abyss.
