Chapter 16 - THE ULTIMATE CHOICEI stared at the small, sterile metal thumb scanner on the computer terminal.
A tiny, pin-sized red laser beam pulsed rhythmically inside the glass aperture, waiting for a biological sample. A drop of my blood. The very DNA that had been stolen from me years ago at the fertility clinic—the root cause of this entire horrific nightmare.
"If I do this," I murmured, looking over at Lily and Chloe, who were resting quietly on a nearby cot, "what happens to Aegis?"
"They fall," Leo answered, his voice steady. "Every shell corporation, every bribed politician, every clandestine laboratory will be exposed to the public. They won't be able to hide behind their lawyers or their offshore accounts anymore. But..." He paused, hesitating for the first time.
"But what, Leo?"
"Aegis knows we downloaded this data," Leo said, turning the monitor toward me to show a live satellite feed of the mountain ridge above us.
On the screen, thermal imaging showed a dozen heavy tactical vehicles swarming the base of the mountain. Squads of heavily armed operatives were unloading from transport trucks, setting up perimeter charges around our exact coordinates.
"They're going to blow the bunker entrance," Maya whispered, stepping up behind us, her face pale. "They'd rather bury us under a million tons of rock than let that data get out."
"How much time do we have?" I demanded.
"Three minutes. Maybe less," Leo replied, tapping the terminal. "Once you provide the biometric authorization, the upload takes exactly ninety seconds to complete and propagate globally. But we have to hold the manual override switch on the auxiliary router across the room to prevent their remote firewall from blocking the signal."
I looked across the cavernous bunker.
Ten yards away, near the heavy steel entrance door, sat a secondary manual routing box with a physical toggle switch. Whoever held that switch would have to stay exposed while the heavy security door was actively being blown open by tactical explosives.
"I'll hold the router switch," Maya said instantly, stepping forward without a second of hesitation.
"No, Maya—" I started.
"I'm the one who led them here in the past. Let me fix it," she interrupted, her voice ringing with absolute, unyielding determination. She walked over to the secondary panel and rested her hand on the heavy metal lever.
I looked at Leo. Then at Lily and Chloe. Then at the glowing red scanner waiting for my blood.
"Alright," I said, my voice steady and resolute.
May you like
I took a small surgical lancet from the medical kit beside the desk, pressed it against the tip of my left index finger, and felt a sharp sting. A bead of dark, warm blood welled up on my skin.
Without looking back, I pressed my bleeding finger firmly onto the glass aperture of the biometric scanner.
