Chapter 6 - Collateral Damage
Alex held his breath immediately, his eyes watering intensely as the toxic yellow gas filled the freezing server room.
He had exactly two minutes of oxygen in his lungs before the deadly chemical would completely paralyze his nervous system.
He desperately scanned the room, looking for any physical weakness in the highly advanced corporate prison.
His eyes locked onto the main cooling intake fan located near the ceiling directly above the massive server racks.
He grabbed a heavy metal fire extinguisher from the wall and climbed frantically to the very top of the fragile server towers.
With his lungs burning and screaming for air, he swung the heavy cylinder directly into the rapidly spinning metal fan blades.
The deafening crunch of breaking metal echoed through the room as the massive fan violently shattered and stopped completely.
Alex forcefully kicked the damaged grate out of the wall and squeezed his body into the narrow, dirty ventilation shaft.
He crawled aggressively forward through the dark, cramped metal tunnel just as he finally gasped for clean, breathable air.
He moved silently through the ductwork until he reached the vent overlooking the luxurious office of the Apex CEO, Marcus Thorne.
Alex peered through the dusty metal slats, watching the ruthless billionaire casually sip expensive scotch at his mahogany desk.
He carefully unscrewed the grate and dropped silently onto the plush carpet behind Thorne's massive leather chair.
He snatched a heavy brass paperweight from the desk and pressed it hard against the back of the wealthy CEO's neck.
Alex demanded the absolute override codes for the drone network, threatening to crush Thorne's skull right then and there.
Thorne did not panic at all, but simply let out a cold, deeply unsettling laugh that echoed in the quiet office.
The billionaire slowly reached for a small, golden remote control resting near his expensive crystal glass.
He confidently pressed a single button, instantly turning on the massive flat-screen television mounted on the office wall.
Alex froze completely as a live, high-definition video feed appeared brightly on the large screen.
The video showed a dark, damp basement where a young girl was securely tied to a wooden chair, crying silently.
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It was Alex's little sister, Mia, surrounded by heavily armed guards holding tactical rifles.
Thorne smiled cruelly and promised that if Alex touched the servers again, Mia would instantly become the very first casualty.
