Internal Conflict Intensifies
846 Words
The darkness tore completely apart like an oil-soaked curtain, and shards of blue light from the emergency light tubes crashed down like hailstones, bouncing off the ground with a crisp shattering sound. Static lint danced wildly, creating visible swirls of energy that tangled in Diana's standing hair. She dropped to her knees on the cold floor, her hands pressing dead center on her temples as the excruciating pain inside her skull continued to roar like a high-voltage drill. Shreds of carbonized laptop fell from between her fingers, the burnt stench of ozone mixed with molten plastic condensing into twisted ripples in the air. Within seconds, the shrill whine of metal being forcibly twisted came from deep within the ventilation ducts, as if the entire building was wailing on her nerve endings.
"Biometric lockdown disabled!" The voice of the committee representative was fragmented by static interference, the cold light of the tablet flickering violently across his face, "Repeat command: execute Clearance Protocol 7!"
The black-clad man's trigger pull was drowned out in a louder pop. Mark suddenly bent over and spat out a mouthful of luminescent spit, his laughter but unusually clear, "Protocols? Are you guys f*****g kidding me? This f*****g place is a giant ball of static right now!"
Rogers stepped in front of the laser rays, the scorch marks on the shoulders of his suit spreading to his chest in a haze of green smoke, "Energy readings are spiking! The carrier is assimilating the entire building's electrical system - abort protocols immediately!"
The burning pain in Diana's retinas intensified as the remnants of the spinning screws began to materialize into flickering streams of data. She felt her bones resonating, every nerve becoming a conductor." Can't stop..." She whispered hoarsely, her voice crackling with static, "Like a tidal wave... Breaking down a dike..."
The delegate mechanically slid the tablet, "The committee authorizes the use of non-lethal suppression equipment. Priority objective: stop the spread of energy."
"Non-lethal?" Mark snorted, wiping fluorescent liquid from the corner of his mouth, "Look around! The ceiling is melting! Your so-called suppression gear is only going to make her blow up even more brilliantly!"
In the darkness, the laser aiming point suddenly twisted and distorted, like a rubber band being pulled by an invisible force. A ray grazed Rogers' arm, revealing circuit-like patterns in the skin glowing under the burnt fabric." God..." He stared at his arm, "She's rewriting the bioelectric field..."
Diana snapped her head up, indigo arcs erupting from her hair." You want data?" Her voice suddenly stabilized, each syllable tinged with a metallic tremor, "The data is dancing in my head. It wasn't destroyed when the terminal melted down-it was uploaded to my neural network."
The representative froze, the tablet slipping from his hand, "That's impossible... The bio-carriers can't handle that kind of data flow..."
"Menopausal hormonal fluctuations reduce blood-brain barrier permeability," Rogers said sharply, "The committee's study predicted this possibility three years ago, but you deleted that section!"
Minutes passed in an intense flurry of energy. The ventilation grills suddenly disintegrated en masse, jagged pieces of metal hovering in the air and beginning to rotate with Diana at the center. Mark coughed and stepped back, "Hey Diana, remember the office bet? You owe me twenty bucks for that - now's not the time to renege!"
The corners of Diana's mouth twitched, a twisted smile squeezed out of the excruciating pain, "The bet... You said I wouldn't last the reorganization session." Her pupils were completely engulfed in electricity, "Looks like you're going to lose."
The accident occurred during the third round of laser fire. All the weapons overloaded and exploded at the same time, and the man in black was jolted back. The representative stumbled and grabbed the twisted corner of the table, "Retreat! Initiating building self-destruct sequence!"
"Too late." Diana stood up slowly, suspended pieces of metal forming a protective barrier, "It's not runaway energy you're afraid of - it's someone who can finally read those doctored transaction logs."
Rogers suddenly rushed at the representative, "The self-destruct program requires triple verification! You are not authorized to initiate it alone!"
"Supplemental Section 7 of the Emergency Act..." The rep hissed as he pulled out another device, "Authorization for solo execution!"
Diana closed her eyes. The stream of data washed over the last mental defenses like a flood - thirty years of compromise, twenty years of silence, all the anger that had been crushed by the system crystallized in this moment." No." She whispered, but her voice cut through all the noise, "I'm not running away."
Her hands unfolded, and the spinning pieces of metal in the air suddenly accelerated, forming a massive conductive network. The emergency lights on the entire floor simultaneously lit up with a blinding white light." Tell the committee," Diana's pupils regained focus, locking onto the delegates, "that their day of reckoning has been brought forward."
The instant the white light went out, all electronic equipment died permanently. The darkness left only her last words echoing through the static, "The rules of the game have changed."
- Writer
