Chapter 16 - The Trap SpringsMiller hesitated, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. With his left hand, he cautiously reached into the front pouch of his tactical vest.
His fingers brushed against something small, metallic, and warm. He pulled it out into the red emergency light.
It was a small, cylindrical metal capsule—identical to the one Elena had opened at the altar just hours ago.
"What is...?" Miller muttered.
Before he could finish the sentence, the capsule in his hand clicked open with a sharp snap. A tiny holographic projector built into the cap flared to life, casting a small, pulsing red light directly onto Miller’s face.
“Biometric signature confirmed: Traitor Unit Miller,” an automated audio file played from the capsule. “Executing localized neural-feedback loop.”
Miller dropped the capsule as if it were burning hot coal, stumbling backward against one of the server racks. He clutched his head with both hands, letting out a horrific, choked scream as his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Chief!" his lead mercenary shouted, pivoting his rifle away from Elena to catch his falling commander.
It was the exact window of opportunity Director Vance and Elena needed.
"Now!" Vance roared, lunging forward and tackling the nearest mercenary to the concrete floor, disarming him with a swift, brutal strike to the throat.
Elena didn't hesitate. Her fingers flew across the console, slamming the final command sequence into the core directory.
“GLOBAL SYSTEM PURGE: 99% COMPLETE,” the console flashed in bold golden letters.
Across the four global satellite feeds on the main screen, the incubation pods in the underground corporate breeding facilities suddenly sparked violently. The glowing red eyes of the synthetic units flickered, dimmed, and went completely dark. The autonomous network was collapsing in on itself, starved of its power source.
Miller collapsed onto his knees on the floor, gasping for air, the color completely drained from his face. He looked up at Elena with sheer, unadulterated terror.
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"You... you rigged the hardware," Miller choked out, blood dripping from his nose. "The moment we brought the data-chip near the bunker... it downloaded the virus into our systems."
"My father was a genius, Miller," Elena said, stepping down from the elevated command platform and standing right in front of the trembling traitor. "He didn't just build a failsafe. He built a trap for every rat trying to steal his legacy."
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