Chapter 10 - The Cradle in the Abyss
The blinding column of white light illuminated the entire neighborhood, turning the night sky an unnatural, ghost-like shade of pale violet. Officer Miller tossed the bent iron crowbar aside and grabbed a heavy-duty tactical flashlight from his utility belt, sweeping the beam down into the subterranean vault.
“We need to get him away from that shaft,” Miller said urgently, his boots crunching on the fractured concrete. “The electromagnetic field is destabilizing the genetic lock. If he stays within range of the core, the bio-chip will permanently lock his neural pathways to the server.”
Clara stepped back, shielding Leo’s face from the blinding illumination pouring up from the bunker. The toddler was no longer crying; instead, his expression was completely blank, his eyes locked onto the glowing blue data streams pulsing deep below the street.
“We have to go down there,” Clara said, her voice dropping to a fierce, resolute whisper.
Miller stopped, staring at her in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind? That chamber is flooded with quantum radiation and toxic coolant gas! It’s a suicide mission!”
“That’s my brother down there!” Clara shouted over the rising mechanical roar of the server banks. “Or whatever they made him out to be! I am not leaving him behind for Vance and his corporate ghouls to harvest!”
Before Miller could argue, the orange and white tabby kitten leaped off Clara’s shoulder, dropping straight down into the glowing vertical shaft with an agile twist.
“No!” Clara screamed, rushing to the edge of the open hatch.
To her utter astonishment, the kitten didn’t fall to its death. Instead, it landed softly on an invisible, vibrating barrier of light suspended ten feet below, its fur crackling with tiny static sparks as it meouwed impatiently up at them.
Leo wriggled out of Clara’s arms with supernatural strength, slipping over the concrete lip of the hatch and dropping lightly onto the same invisible barrier, landing right next to the tabby kitten without a scratch.
“Leo!” Clara cried out, preparing to dive in after him.
Miller caught her by the waist, yanking her back just as a secondary blast wave blew the remaining glass out of the municipal building’s windows.
“Wait! Look at the boy!” Miller pointed down into the vault.
Leo was standing on the light bridge, holding his tiny hands together in that familiar pleading gesture. But this time, as he muttered a string of incomprehensible syllables, the blinding white light in the chamber instantly shifted to a calm, soothing emerald green.
May you like
The roaring mechanical hum of the server banks died down to a gentle, rhythmic whisper. The digital countdown timers glowing across the holographic displays flickered, locked, and then smoothly reversed their numbers.
---
