Chapter 6 - Assault on Glass Tower
At 2:00 AM, a heavy rainstorm enveloped the city skyline, lightning flashing against the mirrored surface of the Vance Bio-Tech Glass Tower.
A heavy armored delivery truck smashed straight through the reinforced glass security gates of the basement parking garage, spinning to a halt near the main power junction.
"Go! Go!" Marcus yelled, stepping out with an automatic rifle, suppressing the initial wave of private security guards.
Harrison, strapped securely into a rugged, treaded all-terrain wheelchair equipped with heavy steel plating, rolled out of the back ramp. Beside him, Kael ran low to the ground, his eyes glowing with an intense, biological blue light as he drew ambient static from the moist garage air.
"Basement level clear!" Marcus reported, slapping a fresh magazine into his rifle.
"Kael, the main relay is behind that titanium door!" Harrison yelled over the sound of alarms blaring through the subterranean levels.
Two heavy automated defense turrets dropped from the ceiling, their red laser sights locking onto Harrison’s chest.
"I've got them!" Harrison shouted, raising a high-frequency EMP rifle Marcus had brought. He fired two concentrated bursts, short-circuiting the turrets in a shower of white sparks.
Kael reached the massive titanium junction door. He didn't look for a keycard or a code. He pressed both palms flat against the cold metal.
CRACKLE!
Veins of blinding blue electricity exploded across Kael’s arms. His shirt sleeves shredded into rags as the raw voltage of the building's main power grid flowed directly through his small body. He screamed in agony, his teeth gritted, his heels lifting off the floor as he forced the energy backward through the system.
Eighty floors above, Dr. Evelyn Thorne was standing in her high-tech command center, monitoring the vault progress. Suddenly, every control console, biometric door, and neural-suppression field violently erupted in blue flames.
"System failure! System failure!" automated alarms shrieked.
"What is happening?!" Thorne screamed, holding onto her desk as the lights went black, replaced by flashing red emergency strobes.
"Someone overridden the core relay from the basement!" a technician yelled in panic. "The neural grid is down!"
Back in the basement, Kael collapsed onto his back, his breathing ragged, smoke rising gently from his palms. The grey stone patches on his ankles had crept two inches higher, up to his shins.
Harrison rolled his chair over instantly, scooping the boy up into his lap. "Kael! Stay with me!"
May you like
"The... the path is open, Father..." Kael gasped, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.
Harrison paused, the word Father striking his chest harder than any bullet ever could. He pulled the boy tight against his chest, turning his wheelchair toward the express elevator shaft. "Marcus! We're going straight to the top!"
