Chapter 9 - The Fall of an Empire
Panic seized the boardroom. Board members scrambled for their phones as live news broadcasts began flashing on the screens built into the obsidian table: MASSIVE CONSPIRACY UNCOVERED: VANCE ENTERPRISES VICE-CHAIRMAN ACCUSED OF ARTIFICIAL EPIDEMIC.
"You ruined everything!" Dr. Thorne snarled, pulling a hidden compact firearm from her coat pocket and aiming it straight at Arthur.
Before she could pull the trigger, Eli moved. With uncanny speed, he leaped across the boardroom table, kicking the weapon out of her hand. The gun slid across the slick floor, falling out of reach.
Marcus, realizing his life's work and freedom were evaporating in seconds, grabbed the encrypted master key from the podium and bolted toward the private executive helipad on the roof.
"Papa, don't let him escape!" Clara cried out.
Arthur and Eli sprinted through the emergency staircase, chasing Marcus up to the open-air helipad atop the 80th floor. The wind whipped violently around them as the blades of a waiting helicopter began to roar to life.
Marcus ran toward the open chopper door, but Arthur caught him by the shoulder, spinning him around. The two men collided, rolling across the asphalt near the edge of the roof.
"I built this company with you, Marcus!" Arthur roared, pinning him down. "We were supposed to heal people!"
"People are cattle, Arthur!" Marcus screamed back, his eyes wild with defeat. "They don't want healing, they want hope, and I was going to sell it to them forever!"
Siren wails began to rise from the streets eighty stories below. Three police helicopters rounded the skyline, spotlights painting the helipad in blinding white light.
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Federal marshals swarmed the roof, weapons drawn. "Marcus Sterling! Step away from the ledge and put your hands on your head!"
Defeated, his grip slipping from his stolen dreams, Marcus fell back onto his knees, staring blankly as iron cuffs snapped around his wrists.
