Chapter 16: Command Core

The corridors of the Nightglass facility felt alive.

Not with people.

With urgency.

Red emergency lights flashed continuously.

Warning sirens echoed through the underground complex.

Security doors opened and closed automatically.

Smoke drifted through ventilation shafts.

Somewhere above them, explosions continued to shake the mountain.

The entire facility was dying.

And everyone inside knew it.

Claire Moreau ran beside Adrian Keller, Maya Volkov, Matthias Keller, and four members of Maya's assault team.

The group moved through maintenance corridors toward the command core.

Toward Viktor Weiss.

Toward the truth.

Matthias struggled to keep pace.

Years inside Nightglass had not prepared him for running through a collapsing facility.

Adrian remained close.

Despite everything.

Despite the lies.

Despite the betrayal.

Despite the lost years.

He refused to leave his brother behind.

Claire noticed.

Neither brother spoke about it.

Neither needed to.

The bond remained.

Damaged.

Not broken.

A radio crackled on Maya's shoulder.

Commander, resistance increasing near Sector Seven.

Copy.

Estimated time to command core?

Less than ten minutes.

If the route remains open.

Maya looked at Claire.

Nothing remains open for long tonight.

The corridor ended at a reinforced blast door.

Unlike previous doors, this one stood partially open.

Something had forced it.

Metal twisted outward.

Scorch marks covered the frame.

Maya immediately signaled her team to stop.

Ambush?

One soldier crouched beside the doorway.

Maybe.

Claire looked through the opening.

Bodies.

Several of them.

Nightglass security personnel.

All dead.

The firefight had been brutal.

The walls were covered with bullet impacts.

Broken equipment littered the floor.

One security station burned near the far wall.

The room still smelled of gunpowder.

Fresh.

Recent.

Maya examined the scene.

Our people came through here.

Recently.

Claire noticed something on one of the dead guards.

A security badge.

She picked it up carefully.

Level Four Clearance.

Name: Samuel Voss.

Another identity.

Another life.

Another person swallowed by Nightglass.

The group continued moving.

Each step brought them closer to command core.

And closer to whatever Viktor Weiss was planning.

Matthias suddenly stopped.

Wait.

Everyone froze.

What?

Adrian asked.

Matthias pointed toward a nearby wall panel.

That wasn't active before.

A small display glowed softly.

Words appeared across the screen.

FINAL PROTOCOL PREPARATION.

Claire felt cold.

What's final protocol?

Nobody answered immediately.

Finally, Matthias spoke.

The facility's last defense.

Maya looked worried.

How bad?

Worst-case scenario.

Claire hated those words.

Explain.

If Nightglass determines exposure is unavoidable, it initiates a total system reset.

Reset?

Matthias nodded.

Every database.

Every identity.

Every subject.

Every employee.

Everything.

Destroyed.

Claire stared at him.

Including people?

A painful silence followed.

Then Matthias nodded once.

Yes.

The answer hit harder than expected.

This wasn't simply data destruction.

This was mass murder.

Industrial-scale murder.

Automated.

Planned.

Systematic.

Maya immediately grabbed her radio.

All teams, priority update.

Final protocol may be active.

Repeat.

Final protocol may be active.

The responses came immediately.

Understood.

Copy.

Moving faster.

Claire looked at Matthias.

How much time?

I don't know.

Hours?

Minutes?

Possibly less.

The uncertainty terrified her.

They resumed moving.

Faster now.

The facility seemed increasingly unstable.

Lights flickered.

Systems rebooted unexpectedly.

Electronic locks opened and closed without warning.

Nightglass was losing control.

Or intentionally destroying itself.

Neither possibility was reassuring.

The next corridor led into an observation wing.

Large glass windows overlooked several research laboratories.

Most stood empty.

Abandoned.

Equipment left behind.

Experiments interrupted.

Documents scattered across desks.

Claire slowed near one laboratory.

Something caught her eye.

Photographs.

Hundreds of them.

Pinned across an entire wall.

Faces.

Thousands of faces.

Men.

Women.

Children.

Every photograph connected by colored strings.

A massive identity network.

Claire stepped closer.

Her breath caught.

Some faces appeared multiple times.

Different names.

Different passports.

Different lives.

The same people.

Nightglass wasn't simply relocating subjects.

It was redesigning them.

Entire identities manufactured and reassigned.

Lives rewritten like documents.

Claire took photographs rapidly.

Even partial evidence mattered.

Especially now.

A gunshot echoed nearby.

Everyone immediately dropped low.

Then another.

Closer.

Followed by shouting.

The battle had reached their level.

Maya signaled forward.

Move.

The team advanced carefully.

The next intersection revealed the source.

A firefight.

Two groups exchanging gunfire.

Nightglass security versus Maya's operatives.

The corridor became chaos.

Bullets ricocheted from metal walls.

Glass shattered.

Smoke filled the air.

One of Maya's soldiers returned fire while the others pushed forward.

Claire stayed low.

Heart racing.

Every instinct screamed at her to run.

But there was nowhere safe to run.

Not anymore.

The firefight lasted less than a minute.

It felt like an hour.

Eventually the shooting stopped.

Silence returned.

Broken only by alarms.

And breathing.

Lots of breathing.

The team continued.

Now only one security zone remained between them and command core.

Matthias knew it immediately.

This area.

What about it?

Claire asked.

This is where Weiss works.

The corridor widened.

The architecture changed.

Everything looked newer.

More expensive.

Cleaner.

Executive territory.

Private elevators.

Biometric scanners.

Restricted access.

The heart of Nightglass.

Then they reached the final door.

Unlike every previous security barrier, this one stood open.

Completely open.

No guards.

No defenses.

Nothing.

Maya frowned.

That's wrong.

Adrian nodded.

Way too easy.

Matthias looked pale.

He knows we're coming.

Claire immediately understood.

Weiss.

Of course.

The man had stayed calm throughout everything.

Even while his organization collapsed.

Even while attackers invaded the facility.

Even while evidence surfaced.

He had expected something.

Prepared for something.

The open door felt like an invitation.

Or a trap.

Possibly both.

Beyond it lay command core.

A circular chamber filled with screens.

Hundreds of screens.

Most displayed security feeds.

Others displayed passenger manifests.

Transfer routes.

Identity records.

Live system activity.

The entire Nightglass network visible in one place.

And standing at the center was Viktor Weiss.

Alone.

Waiting.

The sight stopped everyone.

Weiss stood beside a large central console.

Hands folded behind his back.

Perfectly calm.

Perfectly composed.

As though he had expected this moment for years.

His eyes settled on Claire.

Then Adrian.

Then Matthias.

Finally Maya.

A faint smile appeared.

You took longer than I expected.

Nobody answered.

The room felt tense enough to explode.

Weiss looked toward Matthias.

You always were predictable.

Matthias stepped forward.

It's over.

No.

Weiss smiled slightly.

It really isn't.

Claire felt her stomach tighten.

Something about his confidence felt wrong.

Dangerously wrong.

The facility was collapsing.

His operation was failing.

Yet he seemed completely unconcerned.

Why?

Then Claire noticed the countdown.

Displayed on the central screen.

Large red numbers.

Visible from anywhere in the room.

09:58.

09:57.

09:56.

The timer continued decreasing.

Claire pointed.

What's that?

Weiss looked almost pleased.

Final protocol.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

The timer continued.

09:49.

09:48.

09:47.

Weiss spread his arms slightly.

Welcome to the end of Nightglass.