The emergency sirens echoing through the ninety-story structure of The Sovereign Grand Hotel & Towers finally sputtered into an eerie mechanical silence as the master lockdown protocols ceased.
Inside the executive security monitoring hub on the 85th floor, General Manager Marcus stood before a panoramic multi-layered array of floating holographic monitors.
His expensive silk tie was ruined, unknotted and hanging loosely over his unbuttoned collar.
The collar itself was soaked through with a sickening mixture of cold sweat and nervous grease.
His hands trembled so violently that he had to brace both palms against the obsidian edge of the central operations desk to prevent his knees from giving out beneath him.
Standing at rigid military attention beside the console was the Chief Security Captain of the hotel's remaining elite defense force.
