Chapter 3

The heavy metal door sealed shut behind me, blocking out the shouting of the guards.

`[Go straight, take the second right. Avoid the motion sensors on the ceiling.]`

I hugged the wall, barely making a sound.

Turning right, I saw the alloy door of the cryo-vault at the end of the hall.

Next to the door was an authorization panel.

I crouched down and took the wire I had ripped from the pod, carefully jamming the exposed metal threads into a green port on the panel.

`[Keep it there. Bypassing authorization... Need ten seconds.]`

The text flickered. The person on the other end was putting everything into hacking the lock.

Behind me, the guards were already breaching the B2 main blast door.

`[Success! Access granted. Status spoofed as 'Emergency Sample Retrieval.' You have three minutes! Go left, Shelf C!]`

*Hum—*

The alloy door slid open silently.

I bolted inside.

The temperature plummeted. My breath turned into thick white mist.

The room looked like a futuristic library, filled with towering metal shelves emitting cold vapor.

Thousands of labeled cryo-boxes were stacked neatly in rows.

I sprinted down the icy aisle, scanning the tags.

There!

A standard cryo-box sat quietly on Shelf C-17.

The label read: *Ethan, B-737.*

Just as I reached for it—

`[Stop!]`

The text flashed in a violent, bloody red.

`[Weight sensors active! Any weight discrepancy or illegal opening will trigger a Level 5 Lockdown!]`

My hand froze in mid-air. Cold sweat broke out on my neck.

They were this meticulous!

`[Scan the side of the box! Look for a passive RF transmitter!]`

I leaned in, using the dim blue light of the shelf to inspect the box.

Sure enough, hidden in a tiny crevice on the side was a transparent micro-chip.

`[Found it! It's a real-time GPS and alarm trigger! If you move the box, they’ll know instantly.]`

What now?

Time was running out. My heart hammered against my ribs.

`[Change of plan! Do not take the box! Use your wire to connect to the data port on the bottom of the box. Download the original sample spectrum data and storage log. That's enough to prove your sample hasn't been contaminated and belongs to you. We have to leave the physical sample behind.]`

Leave it?

I had gone through hell to get here!

`[Hurry! No time to argue! This is the only way to clear your name! The port is at the bottom.]`

Clenching my teeth, I realized she was right.

I plugged my wire into the tiny port at the bottom of the box.

`[Connection established! Downloading data... 1%]`

The progress bar crawled upward painfully slowly.

`[Oh no! They are brute-forcing the B2 master door! Faster than expected! Accelerate!]`

The distant thud of an explosion echoed. They were in the sublevel!

`[Download complete! Disconnect! Run! Use the waste disposal chute at the far end of the vault!]`

I ripped the wire out and turned to run.

*Click...*

A mechanical whirring sound came from above my head.

I looked up.

At the very top of the shelf, a black automated syringe gun crept out of the ceiling.

It aimed directly at my neck.

The AR text in my vision began to violently warp and glitch.

*BZZZ—*

`[System... bypassed... by admin...]`

`[Firewall... breach...]`

`[Run... Ethan... run... they found m...]`

The last words faded into static.

And then, the AR overlay vanished from my eyes completely.

She... she got caught?!