Chapter 14 - The Final Broadcast
Detective Miller’s hands trembled slightly as she stared down at her own phone screen, watching the live news broadcast expose her precinct as a front for the very syndicate Julian Thorne represented. The tactical operatives behind Julian raised their assault rifles, their laser sights locking onto Miller’s chest.
“You sold us all out,” Miller whispered, her voice shaking with rage and betrayal.
“I merely allocated resources where they were most profitable,” Julian replied smoothly, holding out his hand. “Now, Arthur. The solid-state drive. Give it to me before my men lose their patience.”
Arthur looked back at Clara, who was shivering violently against the ventilation unit. He reached slowly into the pocket of his shirt, his fingers wrapping around the cold metal drive. For a brief second, he considered throwing it off the edge of the roof into the dark abyss below. But he knew Julian’s reach was infinite; destroying the drive wouldn't stop them—it would only ensure that he and Clara were silenced permanently.
“Here,” Arthur said, pulling the drive out and holding it up in the pouring rain. “Take it. Just let my daughter go.”
Julian smiled greedily, taking a step forward to snatch the drive from Arthur’s palm. But as Julian’s fingers brushed the metal casing, Arthur’s phone—which was still clutched in his other hand—suddenly vibrated with an incoming emergency alert.
It wasn't a text message. It was a live video feed override.
Without Arthur touching the screen, the phone’s front-facing camera snapped open, broadcasting the rooftop scene live across every active social media platform in the world, instantly hijacking the millions of dormant followers from their original viral roadside video.
A synthetic voice echoed from Arthur’s phone speaker, drowning out the roar of the storm: “Upload complete. Decentralized ledger broadcasted to global public domain. All funds redistributed. Target lock acquired by international cyber-interpol.”
Julian’s face drained of all color in a fraction of a second. He snatched Arthur’s phone, staring at the screen in absolute horror as the view count ticked past ten million live viewers in real time.
“No... you fool!” Julian shrieked, lunging toward Arthur. “You just broadcasted the master encryption keys to the entire planet!”
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Before Julian could grab the phone, a brilliant flash of red and white light cut through the storm clouds above them. A federal tactical helicopter dropped rapidly out of the clouds, hovering directly over the hospital helipad, its massive searchlights blinding everyone on the roof.
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