Chapter 5 - Infiltrating the Tower
By 3:00 AM, the storm had reached its peak over the city skyline. Thunder shook the glass panes of the high-rise buildings as lightning flashed across the clouds.
Standing across the street from the shimmering sixty-story glass monolith that was the Apex Bio-Genetics Headquarters, Elias adjusted the collar of a stolen security technician's uniform.
"Are you sure about this?" Marcus’s voice crackled through a tiny earpiece in Elias’s ear. "If Vance’s men spot you inside that building, you won't come out alive."
"I'm sure," Elias replied coldly, watching the front lobby from the shadows of an alleyway. "Sarah and Nurse Elena are safe at the cabin with the local sheriff’s deputy you called. This ends tonight."
"Remember," Marcus instructed, "the master vault is on the sub-level 3 server floor. Elena gave us her high-clearance nurse badge, but Vance will have revoked her access codes within the hour. You have thirty minutes before the system purge completes."
Elias tapped his earpiece, stepped out into the pouring rain, and walked casually toward the side service entrance of the tower.
Using Elena’s badge, he swiped the card key against the scanner. The light flickered amber, paused for three terrifying seconds, and then clicked green.
The heavy steel door slid open.
Elias slipped inside, avoiding the main hallway security cameras by sticking to the maintenance corridors. He took the emergency service elevator down to Sub-Level 3.
The doors chimed softly as they opened to a sterile, white-tiled hallway illuminated by blue LED strips. The air was freezing, smelling faintly of liquid nitrogen and industrial alcohol.
Elias moved quickly, navigating toward the heavy glass doors labeled CENTRAL ARCHIVES & GENETIC REGISTRY.
He pulled a high-speed data-cloning device Marcus had built from his pocket, plugging it directly into the master terminal beside the vault door. The screen lit up: DECRYPTION IN PROGRESS – 0%... 15%...
"Elias, hurry," Marcus warned through the earpiece. "Security monitors just picked up an unauthorized terminal access on Sub-Level 3. They’re sending a team down!"
"It's at forty percent," Elias grunted, his sweat dripping onto the keyboard. "Hold them off!"
70%... 85%... 100% – ACCESS GRANTED.
The vault lock unlatched with a loud pneumatic hiss.
Elias threw the door open, stepping into a cold room filled with thousands of glowing blue cryogenic vials and physical paper ledgers spanning decades of illegal experiments. He pulled the hard drive from the console, downloading every patient file, every financial bribe to government inspectors, and the complete blueprint of Dr. Vance’s illegal breeding network.
"Got it!" Elias shouted.
"I knew you were resourceful, Mr. Sterling."
Elias froze.
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He turned around slowly. Standing in the doorway of the vault was Dr. Vance, holding a sleek black semi-automatic pistol, flanked by four armed security guards.
"Did you really think it would be this easy?" Vance asked, a sinister smile spreading across his lips. "You’re a schoolteacher, Elias. You don't belong in my world."
