Fail-Safe Breach

Jessica’s pulse pounded in her ears. The air inside the complex had turned thick, electric with tension. The metallic footsteps drew closer, steady and unhurried—whoever was coming wasn’t in a rush, because they knew there was no escape.

Leanna grabbed Olivia’s arm. “We have to go. Now.”

“Give me five seconds!” Olivia hissed, her fingers flying over her keyboard. The screen reflected in her glasses, lines of code scrolling faster than Jessica could follow.

“We don’t have five seconds!” Jessica snapped, drawing her gun as she backed toward the exit.

A burst of static erupted from Olivia’s laptop, and the words File Download: 12% flashed in the corner of the screen.

“They’re wiping everything. It’s not just logs,” Olivia muttered. “There’s something here—maybe a source file, maybe even…a list.” Her hands kept typing.

Jessica exchanged a quick glance with Leanna. They could run, but if they left now, they’d lose whatever information Olivia was pulling. And information was the only weapon they had.

“Thirty seconds,” Olivia muttered.“I’ve almost cracked this relay sequence—it’s the same one I saw back in Montmartre.”

Jessica exhaled sharply. “Fine. We hold.”

Leanna pressed against the doorway, gun raised. “If they step through this door, they don’t get a chance to shoot first.”

Jessica swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay calm. This is just another fight. Just another job. But deep down, she knew this was different. Someone had been expecting them. Someone had lured them here.

Then, suddenly, the footsteps stopped.

A silence heavier than any gunfire filled the space.

Jessica’s grip tightened on her weapon. “Why did they stop?”

A whisper of movement—too fast to react. The power snapped off with a hiss—screens died, the relay stopped clicking. Darkness swallowed them whole, and the only sound was Olivia’s breathing, fast and shallow.

For a heartbeat, none of them moved. Then, from the far side of the room, something scraped against the concrete. A voice—not synthetic, not human—spoke loud enough to reach them. “They know you’re here. You were never off their grid.” A pause. Then one word, as cold as the air around them: “Run.”

They didn’t wait for the voice to speak again. Darkness fell like a trap. The silence was total—and wrong. Jessica barely had time to react before Leanna grabbed her arm and pulled her into motion. Olivia scrambled to close her laptop, stuffing it into her bag as she followed.

Footsteps thundered down the corridor. Heavy boots. More than one pair.

Jessica swallowed the panic rising in her throat. “Move, move!” she urged, adrenaline surging through her veins.

They sprinted down the hallway, the dim emergency lights barely illuminating their path. A distant crash echoed through the complex, followed by the unmistakable sound of a door being kicked open.

“They’re cutting off our exits,” Olivia panted.

Jessica’s mind raced. “Leanna, do you remember another way out?”

Leanna’s gaze darted to the side. “There’s an old maintenance hatch ahead,” Leanna said, already calculating. “Schematics showed it on Kovač’s files.”

A burst of gunfire cut her off, bullets ricocheting off the walls. Sparks flashed in the dim light.

Jessica shoved Olivia forward. “Run faster.”

The hatch came into view—a rusted metal grate at the far end of the corridor. Leanna lunged for it, prying it open with a grunt. “Go, now!”

Jessica grabbed Olivia’s bag and pulled. “Go!”

Olivia went through first. Jessica followed, landing hard on the other side. Leanna dropped in behind them as more gunfire erupted above. They didn’t stop running. Not until the complex was a ghost behind them. Not until the echoes faded—and the dark said nothing back.