Chapter 8 - The Sacrifice
Thick, acrid black smoke billowed through the server room, aggressively choking the breathable air out of the basement.
Derrick dragged himself pathetically over to Ethan, coughing violently and clutching his chest.
"What does it mean, Level Zero authentication?" Derrick gasped, blood dripping from his nose.
"It means the system requires a complete sacrifice of a root administrator's digital identity to force a hard reboot," Ethan explained rapidly over the alarms.
"It requires your biometric data, Derrick."
Derrick shook his head, absolute panic returning to his bloodshot eyes.
"If I do that, it permanently wipes all my hidden offshore accounts and my entire net worth!" Derrick cried in disbelief.
"I will have absolutely nothing left in the world!"
Ethan grabbed Derrick by the collar of his ruined designer shirt and slammed him violently against the server rack.
"You already have nothing!" Ethan roared over the deafening sirens.
"Marcus leaked your files, and you are going to federal prison for attempted murder."
"The only choice you have left is whether you die in this fire or save the three hundred people upstairs."
Derrick looked at the raging fire actively consuming his beautiful, multi-million dollar servers.
He looked at his blistered, severely frostbitten hands trembling in the smoke.
Tears streamed down his dirty face as he finally accepted the brutal reality of his total defeat.
"Do it," Derrick whispered, tightly closing his eyes.
Ethan grabbed Derrick's trembling hand and slammed his palm forcefully onto the biometric scanner on the main console.
"Identity confirmed: Derrick Vance," the automated voice stated calmly.
"Initiate protocol Zero immediately," Ethan commanded into the voice receptor.
"Warning: Protocol Zero will permanently erase all linked financial and personal data assets globally," the voice warned.
"Confirm," Derrick choked out, his voice completely breaking.
The terminal screen flashed a brilliant, blinding green.
"Protocol Zero accepted, rebooting all core systems."
Instantly, the heavy blast doors upstairs began to unlock with loud, satisfying mechanical thuds.
The emergency fire suppression system finally kicked in, raining heavy chemical foam down upon the burning servers.
But as the roaring flames died down, a new, much more terrifying sound echoed from the dark hallway behind them.
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It was the heavy, rhythmic metallic footsteps of a heavily armored security android that Derrick had illegally purchased.
The android's glowing red eyes pierced the thick smoke, and its mounted rotary cannon spun rapidly to life.
