Chapter 14 - The Blinding Light
A pillar of pure, white electrical energy erupted from the penthouse helipad, shooting straight into the night sky like a spear of artificial lightning.
The blast tore through the satellite dish, instantly frying the signal uploading Vance’s consciousness and cascading backward into the building's core mainframe. Every computer system, every server, every encrypted file related to Project Aegis was incinerated in a fraction of a millisecond.
Vance screamed as the neural feedback slammed into his brain through his interface harness, burning out his nervous system before he collapsed dead onto the marble floor.
The sky above the city illuminated with a brilliant aurora of blue and gold as the electromagnetic wave expanded through the atmosphere. Down below, the dark city began to wake up.
Substation by substation, the lights clicked back on. Neon signs flickered to life; streetlamps illuminated the wet avenues; sirens began to wail once more as power returned to the grid.
On the helipad, the light faded.
Sarah scrambled out onto the rain-swept deck. The heavy satellite array was a twisted, melted wreck of slag and wire.
In the middle of the pad lay Leo, small and still against the wet concrete.
"Leo!" Sarah fell to her knees beside him, pulling his cold body into her arms. The blue tattoos on his skin were gone, replaced by faint gray scars. His breathing was non-existent.
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"No, no, no... come on, kid," Sarah wept, pressing her hands against his chest, attempting CPR. "Don't do this! You beat them! You won!"
Silence hung heavy in the rain, broken only by the distant sounds of a reviving city.
