THE MAN WITH THE GLOWING GREEN EYES WHO WALKED THROUGH THE GATES OF HELL

The tactical operatives flooded into the sub-core, their weapons trained directly on Arthur, Julian, and Miller. The leading operative raised his rifle, his finger hovering over the trigger as his tactical visor swept the room before locking onto the glowing terminal display.

“Drop your weapons! Step away from the console!” the operative barked, his voice amplified by his helmet speakers.

Miller stepped in front of Julian, holding his service pistol loosely at his side. “It’s over, captain. The data’s already out. You can’t stop a hundred thousand simultaneous downloads.”

The operative hesitated for a fraction of a second, his eyes darting to the main screen, where the progress bar hit 100% Complete. A soft, chiming tone echoed from the server racks, signaling the successful finalization of the broadcast across the entire city network.

“You fools have no idea what you’ve done,” the operative snarled, lowering his rifle barrel slightly to aim directly at Arthur’s chest. “The entire regional infrastructure relies on those encrypted ledgers. You’ve just crippled the municipal grid.”

“No,” Arthur said, taking a slow, deliberate step forward into the emerald light. “We’ve just liberated it.”

The silver animal pin on Arthur’s lapel flared with a blinding intensity that filled the entire chamber, washing out the tactical flashlights and blinding the operatives behind their visors. A deep, resonant shockwave rippled outward from the pin, passing harmlessly through Julian and Miller, but striking the tactical gear of the operatives with a sharp, metallic hum.

With a series of loud, simultaneous pops, every tactical visor, rifle interface, and communication device worn by the operatives sparked and went completely dead.

The operatives stumbled backward, shouting in confusion as their advanced equipment failed all at once, leaving them stranded in the dim, natural light of the cooling servers.

Julian watched in awe as the heavily armed squad fumbled blindly in the dark, their formidable technological advantage completely neutralized by a single, unyielding pulse of energy.

“How did you do that?” Julian asked, turning to Arthur.