Chapter 4 - The Voice Over the Speakers Claimed My Father Was a Traitor—But I Recognized the Man Who SpokeEveryone panicked.
Security rushed toward the doors.
Nothing worked.
The emergency lights came on.
Red.
Dim.
The voice returned.
“You should have listened to him, Ethan.”
Ethan stared at the ceiling.
“Victor.”
My stomach dropped.
Victor Shaw.
The missing CTO.
“You're here?”
A laugh echoed.
“Of course.”
Marcus looked at the control panel.
“Where is he broadcasting from?”
I listened.
There was an echo.
Metal walls.
Large room.
I whispered,
“Below us.”
Marcus looked at me.
“What?”
“His voice.”
“What about it?”
“It's echoing from underneath.”
Ethan understood.
“Sublevel four.”
CrossTech had no public sublevel four.
At least not on the building plans.
Ethan looked at security.
“Find it.”
The doors unlocked.
We ran.
A hidden elevator opened beneath the laboratory.
The elevator descended.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
Then stopped.
A door opened.
We found a secret facility.
Computers.
Servers.
Blueprints.
Photographs.
And dozens of files.
One wall contained photographs of people.
Engineers.
Executives.
Scientists.
My father.
My mother.
Me.
I froze.
There was a photograph of me at age six.
Another at eight.
Another from the night before.
Someone had been watching us for years.
Mom pulled me close.
Ethan looked horrified.
“Why were they tracking my family?”
Victor stepped from the shadows.
He was holding a tablet.
“Because your father knew too much.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You killed him.”
Victor smiled.
“Not directly.”
I stared at him.
“You were watching us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because Daniel built something.”
“What?”
“A system.”
He pointed toward the engine blueprint.
“Prometheus wasn't designed to create energy.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“It was designed to control it.”
Ethan's face went pale.
Victor continued.
“Your father discovered the true purpose.”
I looked at Mom.
She was crying.
“What purpose?”
Victor answered.
“Prometheus could destabilize power grids.”
Marcus whispered,
“That could cause nationwide blackouts.”
Victor nodded.
“Exactly.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“I'm ambitious.”
He pressed a button.
The facility shook.
Prometheus had started again.
But this time, there was no ninety-second shutdown.
The engine kept running.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Marcus stared at the monitor.
“It's stable.”
Victor smiled.
“Because I fixed it.”
I listened.
Something was wrong.
I could hear it.
A low vibration.
Growing.
I whispered,
“No.”
Victor looked at me.
“What?”
“You didn't fix it.”
I pointed at the engine.
“You made it dangerous.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
I heard the same sound Dad had warned me about.
A machine screaming before it broke.
“Stop it!”
Nobody moved.
I screamed louder.
“STOP IT!”
Victor laughed.
“You're just a child.”
I looked at Ethan.
“Turn it off.”
Marcus checked the controls.
“She's right.”
Victor reached for his weapon.
“Don't.”
Ethan stepped between us.
“Run.”
May you like
The facility began shaking violently.
And then every alarm in the building started screaming.
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