Chapter 6 - Ambush in the Server Core
The impact drove the wind from Jonathan’s lungs, sending him crashing hard against the reinforced steel frame of the vault door. The glowing amber envelope flew from his grasp, skidding across the polished concrete floor of the server room. Victor stepped out from the shadows of the overhead ductwork, his charcoal grey suit torn at the shoulder, his face bruised from the previous altercation, and a malicious grin plastered across his features.
"Did you really think the board would leave the vault unsecured?" Victor mocked, stepping forward to press his heavy leather shoe firmly onto the glowing document.
Lily screamed, running toward the fallen envelope, but Jonathan lunged forward with a desperate burst of adrenaline, tackling Victor around the knees and sending both of them crashing into a rack of blinking server units. Sparks showered down like a cascade of dying stars as the server casing dented inward under their combined weight.
"You're fighting a losing battle, Jonathan!" Victor wheezed, throwing a heavy punch that clipped Jonathan’s jaw, sending a sharp wave of pain radiating through his head. "The Aether Initiative is bigger than you, bigger than Elena, and certainly bigger than your pathetic family!"
Jonathan tasted copper in his mouth, but he refused to let go. He grabbed Victor by the lapels of his ruined suit, slamming him back into another server rack until the machine beeped frantically and shut down with a sharp mechanical whir. The loss of power to that single rack plunged half the room into sudden, disorienting darkness.
"Lily! Get the envelope!" Jonathan shouted over the din of the failing machinery.
The little girl scrambled across the floor, her green dress catching on a loose wire, but she wrenched herself free, diving onto the amber document just as a cold, paralyzing hand gripped her small shoulder.
Elena stood over her, her eyes blazing with that terrifying, unnatural white light. Her face was completely devoid of maternal warmth, her features locked in a cold, statuesque mask. She reached down with agonizing slowness, her fingers brushing against the back of Lily’s dress, preparing to yank her away from the paper.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Jonathan roared, breaking free from Victor and lunging toward his wife.
Before he could reach them, a high-pitched alarm began to wail throughout the subterranean chamber. The overhead ventilation grilles rattled violently as a thick, pressurized gas began to hiss from nozzles mounted in the corners of the room. It smelled faintly of bitter almonds and ozone—a sedative designed to instantly neutralize unauthorized intruders before they could access the core database.
Victor staggered to his feet, coughing violently as the gas hit his lungs, yet he smiled through his pain, pointing a shaking finger at Jonathan.
"You're too late... the purge protocol has already started," Victor gasped, his legs buckling beneath him as he slid down the server rack into unconsciousness.
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Jonathan dropped to his knees beside Lily, scooping her into his arms and pressing the amber document against her chest just as his own vision began to swim and blur at the edges.
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