<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
The drive back from Daniel’s cabin was heavy with silence, the weight of his revelations pressing down on Clara and Hensley. The Node was more than a device; it was a failsafe. Yet, without it, the liquid remained an unpredictable danger. They now had Daniel on their side, but Clara couldn’t shake the feeling that their fight had only just begun.
“Do you believe him?” Hensley finally asked, his eyes on the road ahead.
Clara stared out the window, watching the dense woods blur past. “I think he knows more than he’s telling us. But we don’t have a choice. If we’re going to stop Wexler, we need his help.”
Hensley grunted, unconvinced. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t bail when things get messy.”
<hr>
When they arrived back at their makeshift headquarters—a nondescript motel room cluttered with maps, notes, and laptops—they found Daniel already waiting for them, his weathered face unreadable.
“I thought you weren’t ready to dive back into this,” Clara remarked, setting her bag down.
Daniel shrugged. “I’m not. But if you’re serious about stopping Wexler, you need more than my advice. You need to prove you can handle what’s coming.”
Hensley folded his arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Daniel said, fixing them with a piercing gaze, “that before I put my neck on the line, I need to know you’re not just fumbling in the dark. There’s a test.”
Clara frowned. “A test?”
Daniel reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to Clara. She unfolded it to reveal a set of coordinates.
“There’s an old research facility in the mountains,” Daniel explained. “Jonathan and I used it during the early stages of our work. If the Node was ever moved, there’s a chance you’ll find some clue there. But it’s not a simple retrieval.”
“What kind of test are we talking about?” Clara asked warily.
Daniel’s lips tightened. “That facility has been dormant for decades, but it’s not abandoned. Jonathan designed it with failsafes to keep intruders out—and to protect its secrets. If you want my help, you’ll need to prove you can navigate it without triggering a disaster.”
“Failsafes?” Hensley echoed. “Like what?”
“Let’s just say you’ll need more than luck to get through,” Daniel replied cryptically. “Do you want my help or not?”The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Clara exchanged a glance with Hensley. She could see the doubt in his eyes, but she nodded. “We’ll do it.”
<hr>
The journey to the coordinates took them deep into the mountains, where the air grew thin and the roads narrowed. By the time they reached the site, night had fallen, casting the facility in shadow. It was a squat, concrete structure partially hidden by overgrown vegetation. The entrance was sealed with a rusted metal door, marked by faded warnings.
“Abandoned, huh?” Hensley muttered, eyeing the ominous structure.
Clara ignored him and approached the door. To her surprise, it slid open at her touch, revealing a dimly lit corridor. A faint hum echoed from deeper within, a reminder that the facility wasn’t as dormant as it seemed.
“Stay alert,” she said, stepping inside.
The corridor led to a control room filled with outdated equipment. Screens flickered weakly, displaying garbled data. As Clara examined the room, a mechanical voice crackled to life through an overhead speaker.
“Unauthorized access detected. Please input clearance code.”
Clara froze. “Daniel didn’t mention a code.”
“Of course he didn’t,” Hensley muttered, scanning the room. “Can we bypass it?”
Before Clara could answer, the floor beneath them rumbled. Panels along the walls slid open, revealing drones that hovered ominously. Each one was armed with a small but menacing plasma cannon.
“Great. He didn’t mention these either,” Hensley grumbled, drawing his sidearm.
“Don’t shoot!” Clara hissed. “They’ll probably take that as a threat.”
The drones began to fan out, scanning the room with beams of light. Clara’s mind raced. If this was part of the test, there had to be a way to disarm them. Her eyes fell on a dusty terminal in the corner, its screen displaying a login prompt.
“Cover me,” she said, rushing to the terminal.
“You’re kidding, right?” Hensley asked as a drone passed uncomfortably close to his head.
Clara ignored him and began typing, trying to bypass the login screen. The drones’ scanning patterns grew more erratic, their hum rising in pitch. A countdown appeared on the overhead screens: 3:00… 2:59…
“Clara,” Hensley said, his voice tense, “what happens when that timer hits zero?”
“I don’t think we want to find out,” she replied, her fingers flying over the keyboard. “Just keep them off me.”
<hr>
The clock ticked down mercilessly as Clara worked, sweat dripping down her temples. She finally managed to access a subroutine that controlled the drones. The screen displayed a series of commands, each one labeled with cryptic names: “Deactivate,” “Engage,” “Override Protocol Delta.”
“What do I pick?” she called out.
“Deactivate, obviously!” Hensley yelled, dodging a drone that had gotten too close for comfort.
Clara hesitated. If this was a test, the obvious choice might not be the right one. Her instincts told her to trust Daniel’s hint: It’s not a simple retrieval. Taking a breath, she selected “Override Protocol Delta.”
The countdown froze at 0:07.
The drones halted midair, their lights dimming. A soft chime echoed through the room, and the mechanical voice returned.
“Clearance verified. Welcome, Jonathan Blackthorn.”
Hensley exhaled loudly. “You did it. Barely.”
Clara slumped against the terminal, her heart pounding. “That wasn’t just a test of skill,” she muttered. “It was a test of trust.”
She turned to Hensley, her expression grim. “Daniel wanted to see if we could think like Jonathan. And now we know how dangerous this really is.”
As they ventured deeper into the facility, Clara couldn’t shake the feeling that the worst was yet to come.