Chapter 3 - Blood on the Glass
Before Elias could ask another question, the penthouse windows exploded.
It wasn't a bomb. It was a localized, high-frequency sonic pulse that shattered the bulletproof glass into a billion glittering diamonds. The desert wind howled into the room, followed immediately by three figures clad in state-of-the-art, thermally insulated tactical gear. They dropped from grappling lines attached to a stealth chopper hovering above the skyscraper.
"Get down!" Elias roared.
He moved with muscle-memory honed in active warzones, drawing the heavy Heckler & Koch USP from his shoulder holster. He grabbed Magnus by the collar of his bespoke suit, hurling the billionaire behind the heavy marble desk just as the room erupted in suppressed automatic gunfire.
The plush leather couches were shredded into confetti. The holographic projector sparked and died.
Elias popped up from behind the marble, firing three rapid, precise shots. Thwip-thwip-thwip. The lead assassin dropped, two bullets taking him center-mass, the third punching through his tactical visor.
But these weren't ordinary mercenaries. The remaining two assassins advanced with terrifying coordination. One of them unclipped a small, silver canister from his belt and rolled it across the floor toward the desk.
Elias saw the frost immediately forming on the carpet around the rolling canister. It wasn't a flashbang. It was a localized thermal-drain grenade.
"Move!" Elias grabbed Magnus, tackling him toward the elevator shaft just as the canister detonated.
There was no fire. Only a blinding flash of blue light and a sickening crack as the air itself froze. The heavy marble desk instantly crystallized and shattered under its own weight. The temperature in the penthouse plummeted from a comfortable seventy degrees to sub-zero in a fraction of a second.
Elias slammed his fist into the emergency elevator override panel, the doors sliding open just as the frost began to creep up his boots. He shoved Magnus inside and fired blindly into the freezing mist, hitting one of the assassins in the shoulder.
The doors closed, sealing them in the descending metal box. Elias stood panting, his breath pluming into white mist.
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"They aren't just trying to steal the coordinates, Magnus," Elias said, ejecting his spent magazine and slapping a fresh one in. "They are trying to silence anyone who knows The Sculptor exists. Who the hell did you cross?"
Magnus leaned against the steel wall, trembling, his arrogance completely gone. "A rogue faction of my own company. Project Leviathan. They don't want to study the organism, Elias. They want to sell it to the highest bidder as a weapon of mass destruction."
