Chapter 7 - The Blackout
Heavy steel vents in the ceiling violently slammed shut, sealing the room tighter than a submarine.
The air pressure inside the lobby instantly shifted, making everyone's ears pop painfully.
"What is happening?" a mercenary shouted, clutching his throat.
Julian had activated the building's specialized fire suppression system.
Instead of spraying water, the system began rapidly extracting oxygen from the room.
The terrified elite guests and the heavily armed mercenaries all started gasping for air.
Within thirty seconds, the weakest among the crowd began collapsing to the floor in a deep, forced sleep.
The mercenaries fired wildly into the ceiling, trying to break the vents, but the steel was too thick.
One by one, the highly trained killers dropped their weapons and fell unconscious onto the marble.
Ryan leaned heavily against the concrete pillar, his eyes rolling back in his head.
"I can't... breathe," Ryan gasped, sliding down to the floor.
Julian reached into his gray jacket and pulled out two small, sleek breathing respirators.
He slapped one over Ryan's mouth and secured the straps around the guard's head.
Julian quickly put the second mask over his own face and took a deep breath of purified oxygen.
The countdown clock ticked down to exactly two minutes.
Julian stepped out from behind the pillar into a room filled entirely with unconscious bodies.
He looked up at the balcony, expecting to see Vance passed out on the floor.
Instead, Vance was standing perfectly upright, wearing a state-of-the-art military gas mask.
Vance slowly clapped his hands, his laughter muffled slightly by the rubber mask.
"Did you really think I wouldn't prepare for your little environmental tricks?" Vance mocked.
He held up a small remote control with a single red button on it.
"The bomb is hardwired to a dead-man's switch in my hand," Vance explained.
"If you try to shoot me or knock me out, my thumb slips, and we all turn to ash."
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Vance walked over to the balcony edge and pointed a high-powered sniper rifle directly at Julian's chest.
"Take off the mask and choke to death, Julian, or I press the button right now."
