Chapter 3: BAD: Security Lockdown

👉 Previous Decision: You chose Option B – Attempt to bribe a floor security guard for vault keys.

The metallic taste of fear filled my mouth. The security guard, a burly man named Johnson who always seemed to be polishing his badge, simply stared at me. My hand, with the folded hundred-dollar bill inside, hovered between us.

“Vault keys, Johnson,” I’d whispered, my voice barely audible above the hum of the mainframe. “A thousand dollars. For a few minutes.”

Johnson’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He didn’t take the money. He didn’t even flinch. His hand, heavy and deliberate, went to the small radio clipped to his belt.

“Unauthorized approach, Sub-Level 4 perimeter,” he barked into the receiver. “Engineer attempting to solicit classified access.”

A cold dread washed over me. I tried to back away, to explain, but it was too late. The heavy steel door behind me, the one leading to the main corridor, slammed shut with a hiss. A red light above it flashed, bathing the hallway in an ominous glow.

“Stay right there, Pendelton,” Johnson commanded, his hand now resting on the butt of his sidearm. “Security will be here in sixty seconds.”

The hum of the mainframe grew louder, or perhaps it was just the ringing in my ears. I was trapped. Marcus had anticipated this. He had planted loyalists, or perhaps merely good, honest guards, who wouldn’t be swayed by cash. My foolish impatience had cost me everything.

Footsteps pounded down the corridor. Two more guards, their faces grim, rounded the corner. They wore the same uniform, the same stern expressions. One carried a small, silver-plated device.

“Subject secured,” Johnson reported.

The guard with the device stepped forward. He raised the silver box, a familiar, unsettling hum beginning to emanate from it. The world began to blur at the edges. My thoughts, moments ago so clear, fractured into meaningless shards. Marcus’s words echoed, fading into the encroaching void: “You won’t even remember your own name.”