Chapter 9 - The Burning Server
The flames roared inside the basement server room of the downtown corporate headquarters, casting violent orange and red reflections across the polished marble floors of the atrium. Julian stood restrained against a concrete pillar near the emergency exit, two hired corporate security guards holding his arms firmly behind his back while David casually typed a final command into the master terminal console.
The air was thick with the acrid stench of melted plastic and ozone as banks of high-end quantum servers sputtered and died, their cooling fans grinding to a halt one by one.
"There goes twenty million dollars in proprietary research, Julian," David said without turning around, his fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard with practiced ease. "All wiped clean before the federal subpoena could even reach the corporate registry. By sunrise, your company won't legally exist, and my holding firm will acquire all remaining assets for pennies on the dollar."
Julian strained against the heavy zip-ties biting rawly into his wrists, his muscles burning with exertion. "You're destroying the very technology you spent ten years helping me build, David. Are you that blind with greed?"
David stopped typing, slowly turning around to face his former friend. His expression was completely devoid of emotion, a chilling mask of corporate ambition run amok.
"Greed has nothing to do with it, Julian," David replied coldly, walking over and stopping just inches away. "It’s about survival. You always played the game like an academic, publishing papers, sharing open-source protocols, trusting people like Clara to be your moral compass. But the real world doesn't reward inventors; it rewards executioners."
Julian glared at him, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. "Clara told me everything before they hauled her away. You funded her secret life upstate. You used her to infiltrate my life from the very beginning."
David let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "Clara is a narcissist who thought she could play both sides of the board. She wanted your name and your social standing, but she didn't have the stomach for the collateral damage. She thought hiding a child upstate would keep her hands clean. But people like Clara always leave a trail."
"And Maya found it," Julian stated flatly.
David’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second, a flicker of genuine panic crossing his eyes before he quickly masked it with a sneer. "That little girl and her infant brother are nothing more than loose ends. And once the corporate transfer is fully processed, those loose ends will be tied up permanently."
Julian’s blood ran cold. The realization hit him like a physical blow—Maya and the baby weren't safe at his estate in the hills. The biometric security gate he trusted would keep them secure was designed by David’s own engineering team six months ago.
Before Julian could lunge forward, the emergency sprinklers overhead suddenly sputtered to life, plunging the server room into a chaotic downpour of freezing water and blinding alarms. In the confusion, Julian threw his weight violently to the side, slamming the guard holding his right arm directly into the sharp corner of the server rack, sending him crashing to the floor unconscious.
Julian spun around, shattering the brittle plastic zip-ties against the heavy metal casing of the terminal, and bolted out the emergency exit into the rainy night air.
May you like
He had to get to the estate before David's operatives reached Maya and the baby.
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