I gripped the silver key, the jagged edges digging into my palm. The amber countdown on the screens flickered, the numbers bleeding into one another as the room shuddered again.
[03:12:05]
"Xavier, do it now!" the old woman screamed over the screeching of tortured metal. "If the ceiling goes, the surge will fry the processors. The 365 will trigger prematurely. There won't be a reset—there will only be a blackout!"
I turned to the monolith. The indentation was shaped exactly like the Vane family crest. I slotted the key in. It turned with a heavy, satisfying clack.
"System requiring final verification," a synthetic voice echoed through the chamber. "Place hand on the secondary sensor."
I hesitated. I looked at Alexandra. She had moved to the base of the stairs, her weapon aimed at the ceiling. "Alexandra, if I do this, we're tied to this place forever. Is this what you wanted?"
She didn't turn around. "I wanted a way out, Xavier. But sometimes the only way out is to go deeper in. If Miller gets his hands on that console, neither of us makes it out of Epe alive."
I pressed my palm to the sensor. This time, it wasn't a blue sweep. A sharp, stinging needle pricked my thumb.
[DNA MATCH CONFIRMED: VANE, XAVIER]
[PROTOCOL 365: RESETTING...]
The sirens stopped. The red emergency lights died, replaced by a blinding, pure white glow that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves. On the screens, the scrolling names slowed, then turned green. The countdown reset: [365:00:00:00].
But we didn't have a year. We didn't even have a minute.
A massive section of the concrete ceiling finally gave way, crashing down onto the server banks at the far end of the room. Dust and debris filled the air. Through the jagged hole in the roof, I saw the silhouettes of Miller's tactical team rappelling down on high-tension wires.
"The back exit!" the old woman yelled, grabbing my arm with surprising strength. She pointed toward a narrow shadow behind the monolith. "The service tunnel leads to the old jetty on the creek. Move!"
I grabbed Alexandra's jacket, pulling her toward the shadow just as the first flashbang detonated behind us. The world turned into a roar of white noise.
We scrambled into the tunnel, the air smelling of salt and swamp water. We were running blindly, the sound of boots hitting the floor behind us getting louder. We burst out of the tunnel and into the humid night air, the smell of the Epe mangroves hitting me like a physical blow.
Moored at a rotting wooden pier was a single, sleek black speedboat.
"Get in!" Alexandra shouted, jumping into the driver's seat.
As I leaped onto the deck, I looked back at the refinery. It was crawling with flashlights, Miller's men swarming the ruins like ants on a carcass. But they were too late. I had the key, I had the reset, and for the first time in my life, I had the power to make them all disappear.
"Where to?" I yelled over the roar of the outboard motor.
Alexandra looked at the GPS, a grim smile on her face. "Lagos is too hot. We're heading east. We go to the one place Miller won't follow—the heart of the Delta."