Midnight came with rain and a campus that felt like it was holding its breath.
Lin met me at the loading dock, hood up, face hidden.
She didn’t speak.
Just tapped her badge on the reader and held the door.
We moved fast.
Corridors empty.
Lights dimmed to emergency glow.
Her footsteps echoed too loud.
Mine didn’t.
“Security rotates in twelve minutes,” she whispered.
“Then we have eleven.”
Vault C was behind a biometric panel and a steel door thick enough to stop a car.
Lin placed her palm on the scanner.
A green light blinked.
The door hissed open.
Inside, the vault was cold.
Server racks hummed.
A single terminal glowed in the center.
“Drive’s in the slot,” she said.
“One copy.
No backups.”
“Good.” I pulled a Faraday bag from my jacket and slid the drive inside.
“You did your part.”
She didn’t move.
“What happens now?”
“Now you walk away,” I said.
“And you don’t look back.”
She hesitated.
“Kael… if they find out…”
“They won’t.” I stepped toward the door.
“Not if you’re smart.”
I was halfway out when the alarm hit.
Red lights strobed.
A voice boomed over the intercom: “Unauthorized access.
Sector 4B.
Lockdown initiated.”
Lin’s face went white.
“I didn’t trigger it.”
“Someone else did.” I grabbed her arm.
“Move.”
We ran.
Footsteps echoed behind us.
Not security.
Heavier.
Tactical.
“Private contractors,” Lin gasped.
“AVG’s cleanup crew.”
“Then they’re not here to arrest us.”
We hit the corridor.
Two men in black waited at the far end, rifles raised.
I shoved Lin behind a server rack and drew the pistol.
Six rounds.
Two targets.
I fired twice.
Both dropped.
“Go,” I told Lin.
“Left stair.
Roof.
Ferryman’s waiting.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll draw them off.”
She didn’t argue.
She ran.
I turned and sprinted the other way, bullets chewing the wall behind me.
I had the drive.
Ije would know by morning.
And the real hunt would begin.