Chapter 2 - The Scientists Thought I Was Hearing Things—Until the Hidden Device Above the Engine Started Counting DownNobody moved.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
I could hear it.
Very faintly.
Like a watch behind a wall.
Ethan looked at security.
“Find it.”
Three technicians climbed onto the upper platform.
Marcus watched them.
Then one of them shouted.
“We've got something!”
Everyone turned.
A small metal box was attached behind the ventilation system.
Marcus rushed toward it.
“Don't touch it.”
The technician froze.
“What is it?”
Marcus didn't answer.
He called security.
The room became chaos.
I stood beside Mom.
She was holding my hand so tightly it hurt.
“Lily,” she whispered.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“I wasn't supposed to leave the lounge.”
She looked at me.
Then she hugged me.
“You saved lives.”
Ethan walked toward us.
For the first time, he didn't look like a billionaire.
He looked like a man who had just realized someone had been trying to kill his employees.
“Lily.”
I looked up.
“Yes?”
“How did you know?”
“My dad.”
“Your father?”
I nodded.
“He fixed machines.”
“What was his name?”
“Daniel Bennett.”
Marcus suddenly looked at Ethan.
Ethan went completely still.
“Daniel Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“You're his daughter?”
I nodded.
Ethan's expression changed.
“Where is he?”
“He died.”
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
Marcus stared at Ethan.
“Did you know him?”
Ethan didn't answer.
That frightened me more than anything else.
Mom stepped forward.
“Mr. Cross?”
Ethan looked at her.
“Where did you say you met Daniel?”
Mom frowned.
“We never met.”
Ethan looked confused.
Then he turned to Marcus.
“Pull Daniel Bennett's employee records.”
Marcus did.
The screen loaded.
And everyone became silent.
Daniel Bennett had worked at CrossTech.
Not as an engineer.
As a mechanical systems consultant.
His employment ended five years ago.
The exact month before his death.
Mom stared at the screen.
“He never told us.”
Ethan whispered,
“Because I fired him.”
Mom looked at him.
“Why?”
Ethan didn't answer.
Marcus opened another file.
There were dozens of notes.
Daniel had raised concerns about the Prometheus project.
But the project hadn't existed five years ago.
Marcus frowned.
“This is impossible.”
I walked closer.
“What's wrong?”
Marcus looked at me.
“These notes refer to Prometheus.”
I frowned.
“But Prometheus was started six weeks ago.”
Marcus slowly turned toward Ethan.
“Apparently not.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
Then a security alarm sounded.
Everyone froze.
The hidden box had activated.
Red lights flashed.
A countdown appeared.
00:59
Marcus shouted,
“Evacuate!”
People ran.
Mom grabbed me.
I heard Ethan yelling orders.
00:45
The engine began powering up.
00:30
Marcus tried to shut it down.
Nothing happened.
00:20
I looked at the engine.
Then I heard something.
A vibration.
Different from before.
I pulled away from Mom.
“Lily!”
I ran toward the lower platform.
Marcus screamed,
“Stop her!”
But I pointed toward the emergency valve.
“That's wrong!”
Marcus looked.
“What?”
“The pressure is going there.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it's humming.”
He stared.
Then he understood.
He turned the valve.
The countdown stopped at 00:08.
The engine powered down.
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Ethan stared at me.
Then Marcus whispered,
“She's right.”
He looked at Ethan.
“Someone didn't just sabotage the engine.”
He pointed toward the hidden device.
“They built a secondary control system.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Who?”
Marcus looked at the employee database.
“We don't know.”
Then my mother suddenly spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Mom was staring at the hidden device.
Her face had gone pale.
“I've seen that symbol before.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“What symbol?”
She pointed.
A tiny emblem was etched into the metal.
A black circle crossed by three silver lines.
“I saw it on your father's old equipment.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“My father?”
Mom nodded.
“Years ago.”
The billionaire stared at her.
Then asked the question that changed everything.
“Maria…”
“Where did you see it?”
May you like
Mom swallowed.
“In the apartment where Daniel and I lived.”
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