Chapter 10 - Blood and Boardrooms
The server room was a cavernous space, filled with towering racks of blinking mainframes that hummed with a deafening, electric intensity. The air conditioning was cranked to a freezing temperature, raising goosebumps on Elara's arms beneath her hoodie.
"The main terminal is over there," Julian shouted over the roar of the cooling fans, pointing to a glass-enclosed booth at the center of the room.
They sprinted toward it. Julian quickly typed in a sequence of overrides, his fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard. Screens flashed red, displaying warning messages about unauthorized access.
"They're actively encrypting the final partition," Julian said, his brow furrowing in deep concentration. "I can isolate the root directory, but I need you to plug the extraction drive into the primary port. Under the desk, on the left!"
Elara dove under the heavy metal desk, her hands frantically feeling along the cold steel chassis of the master server. She found the port and jammed her encrypted USB drive into it. "It's in!" she yelled, crawling back up.
"Initializing transfer," Julian said. A progress bar appeared on the screen, crawling forward at an agonizingly slow pace. 10%... 15%...
"Tell me something," Elara said, her eyes glued to the screen. "Why is Victoria so obsessed with Leo? I know he has the genetic marker, but why him specifically? She has dozens of subjects."
Julian sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Because he’s the only perfect match. The trials... they were designed to synthesize a cure for the neurological decay that runs in your family's bloodline. Victoria is dying, Elara. Her brain is degenerating. Leo’s unique genetic makeup is the only viable template for a permanent cure. She doesn't view him as a grandson; she views him as raw material."
Elara felt bile rise in her throat. The sheer monstrous nature of her grandmother’s plan was staggering. "She wants to harvest him," Elara whispered in horror.
"Yes," Julian confirmed grimly. "And once she has what she needs, he will simply be discarded. That's why we cannot let her win."
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Warning: External Breach Detected, the monitor suddenly flashed in bright crimson letters.
"Damn it," Julian hissed. "They found our backdoor. We have company coming, and they are not going to be happy."
