Shadows of Deception

The Moment of No Return

The monitors flickered, casting eerie blue light across the lab as the satellite uplink reached 92% completion. Lines of code streamed across the screens—too fast for even Izzy to decipher at a glance. Whatever Kane had set in motion was happening now.

Ethan’s gun was trained on Kane’s head, but the tech mogul didn’t flinch. He stood like a man already victorious, as if Ethan’s presence was nothing more than an inconvenience.

“You’re too late,” Kane said smoothly. “The switch has already been flipped.”

Ethan took a step forward. “I can still put a bullet in your skull before you see what happens next.”

Kane smiled, his confidence unwavering. “That would be a mistake.”

Izzy’s fingers flew over her tablet. “Ethan, I can disrupt the transmission if I—”

A gunshot rang out.

Ethan barely had time to react before Izzy jerked backward, a crimson bloom spreading across her shoulder.

She collapsed.

“Izzy!” Ethan lunged, catching her before she hit the floor. Her eyes fluttered open, pain twisting her features.

Kane sighed. “I warned you.”

Ethan turned, his rage barely contained—only to find Dr. Miles Carter standing at the entrance, gun still smoking.

“Sarah says hi,” Carter said with a smirk.

---

Sarah’s Struggle

Minutes earlier.

Sarah was still on her knees, fighting through the white-hot neural disruption searing through her skull. Carter’s device pulsed at his wrist, sending waves of agony through her nervous system.

But Sarah was stubborn.

And more importantly, she was pissed.

She gritted her teeth, her hand inching toward the blade strapped to her thigh. The moment Carter stepped closer—smug, overconfident—she struck.

One clean slash.

His wrist device sparks. The pain in Sarah’s skull vanishes.

Carter barely has time to curse before Sarah smashes the butt of her gun across his jaw, sending him sprawling.

“I say hi back,” she muttered, raising her gun—

But before she could pull the trigger, a dozen guards stormed in.

---

Breaking the Cycle

Back in the lab, Izzy was gasping, trying to press down on her wound. Ethan was torn between finishing Kane and keeping her alive.

Izzy clutched his sleeve. “Ethan,” she rasped. “The uplink… it’s at 98%.”

Ethan’s eyes flicked to the monitor.

10 seconds.

Kane chuckled. “You should make peace with it, Ethan. The world as you know it ends today.”

Ethan fired.

Not at Kane.

At the main console.

Sparks exploded. The screens glitched. The countdown froze.

Kane’s smirk disappeared.

“NO!”

The lights flickered violently as the entire facility trembled. Then—darkness.

The whole system had crashed.

For a second, there was silence.

Then chaos.

---

A Pyrrhic Victory

“Get up,” Ethan growled, dragging Izzy to her feet as alarms blared through the compound. “We have to go.”

Kane, breathing heavily, was seething. “You don’t understand what you’ve done.”

Ethan grabbed him by the collar. “Yeah? Enlighten me.”

Kane’s lips curled into something almost… triumphant.

“You stopped the signal,” he admitted. “But only for now.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched. “And you won’t get another chance.”

Kane’s laughter followed them as they ran.

But Ethan couldn’t shake the unease curling in his gut.

This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

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