Chapter 69 - The Sovereign Core
“Then we have thirty seconds to find another way out,” Marco said, setting the timer with steady, unhesitating fingers.
*00:30.*
*00:29.*
“You’re insane!” I cried, but my hands were already moving. I pulled out my obsidian scalpel, scanning the intricate tangle of wires and fluid tubes running behind the antique console. As a nurse, I had spent years studying the logic of life-support systems. Every bypass had a shunting valve. Every circuit had an emergency ground.
“Look for the copper busbar!” I shouted, tearing away rusted aluminum panels from the console. “Vance’s designs always use an external galvanic ground to protect the operator!”
“*You cannot cut the thread, Laura,*” Vance’s voice boomed, growing louder, more aggressive as the countdown ticked down. “*You are my flesh. You bear my pulse. You are the second half of the Sovereign Core! Surrender the mafia bastard and take your place at the helm!*”
*00:20.*
*00:19.*
Marco grabbed a heavy iron pry bar from the wall rack, limping on his broken leg with agonizing determination, and jammed it beneath a thick, tarnished copper cable anchored into the concrete floor. “Here! Is this it?”
“Yes! Pull it!”
We both threw our weight onto the pry bar. The leverage was brutal, the ancient bolts screaming in protest against sixty years of corrosion. Above us, the water behind the glass ceiling began to vibrate violently as the turbines reached maximum RPM, sending shockwaves through the lake.
*00:10.*
*00:09.*
With a deafening *SNAP*, the copper anchor sheared off, breaking the ground circuit. The green phosphor monitors flared brilliantly before exploding in showers of glass and sparks.
The live audio horn let out a hideous, dying shriek: “*LAURA—!*”
The hum of the turbines died instantly. The water above slowed its churning frenzy.
*00:03.*
*00:02.*
“Down!” Marco roared, throwing his body over mine, shielding me with his chest as we slammed onto the wet concrete behind the reinforced console.
*00:00.*
The blast hit.
The concussive shockwave ripped through the Genesis Chamber, shattering the leather chair and reducing the skeletal remains of Enrico Bellini to dust. But the destruction didn't stop there. The sheer force of the explosion traveled straight upward, cracking the massive antique glass skylight fifty feet above.
A hairline fracture appeared in the reinforced glass.
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Then it spider-webbed across the entire ceiling.
***
