Chapter 9 - The Blackout
Elena felt the cold barrel of Julian's gun pressing hard against her ribs.
She was completely surrounded by his loyal guards and hundreds of terrified, silent witnesses.
She prepared to hand over the keycard, accepting that her mission had entirely failed.
Suddenly, every single crystal chandelier in the grand ballroom violently exploded in a shower of sparks.
The massive room was instantly plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
Screams of pure panic erupted as the wealthy guests shoved each other blindly to escape.
In the chaotic darkness, a heavy fist struck the guard holding Elena's left arm.
Carter grabbed her hand and yanked her away from Julian's deadly grip.
"I told you I was going to rob this place," Carter yelled over the deafening screams of the crowd.
He handed her the actual glowing hard drive containing all of Julian's dark secrets.
"I pickpocketed Victoria while she was distracted watching Julian's little speech," Carter laughed.
"We need to get to the audiovisual control room right now," Elena realized instantly.
They sprinted through the dark ballroom, using Carter's tactical flashlight to navigate the panicked mob.
They kicked open the door to the AV control booth overlooking the entire event space.
Elena slammed the hard drive into the main broadcasting console and began typing furiously.
She bypassed the hotel's firewalls, initiating a mass upload to every news outlet in the country.
A loading bar appeared on the screen, slowly ticking past fifty percent.
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Suddenly, the heavy metal door of the control booth was blown entirely off its hinges.
Julian stepped through the smoke, aiming his handgun directly at Elena's head.
