Chapter 18: Last Stop

For the first time since Claire Moreau had stepped onto the train in Paris, Viktor Weiss looked afraid.

Not surprised.

Not annoyed.

Afraid.

The change was small but unmistakable. His shoulders stiffened. His eyes shifted toward the secondary terminal. His hands, which had remained calm through gunfire, explosions, and the collapse of his facility, suddenly curled into fists.

Claire understood immediately.

The file marked Project Origin was not just evidence.

It was the heart of the conspiracy.

The directorate.

The names behind Nightglass.

The people powerful enough to erase citizens from official records, create new identities, move human beings across borders, and bury every trace beneath government contracts and private security networks.

Maya Volkov stepped closer to the terminal.

Copy it.

One of her operatives connected a drive.

The screen flashed.

TRANSFER STARTED.

Viktor Weiss moved.

Fast.

Much faster than Claire expected from a man his age.

He reached beneath the console and pulled out a compact handgun.

Maya reacted instantly, raising her weapon.

Everyone froze.

The command core became completely still except for the countdown on the central screen.

05:42.

05:41.

05:40.

Weiss aimed at the operative copying the file.

Stop the transfer.

Maya's voice remained cold.

Drop the weapon.

If that file leaves this room, thousands die.

Claire almost laughed from disbelief.

Thousands are already in danger because of you.

Weiss turned his eyes toward her.

You still don't understand what Nightglass contains.

Then explain it.

He looked at the screens surrounding them.

Witnesses. Defectors. Intelligence assets. People hiding from criminal networks. People hiding from governments. People hiding from the directorate itself.

His voice lowered.

Release the wrong files, and you don't expose Nightglass. You expose the people Nightglass once protected.

The statement landed hard.

Claire hated that it made sense.

Maya did too. Claire saw it in her expression.

Truth was not always clean.

Evidence was not always safe.

A careless leak could destroy innocent lives alongside guilty ones.

Adrian looked toward Matthias.

Is he telling the truth?

Matthias swallowed.

Partly.

Claire's stomach tightened.

Partly?

The directorate records identify the controllers. But the same files may contain protected identities.

Weiss smiled faintly.

Finally, honesty.

Matthias shook his head.

No. You don't get to hide behind the innocent people you endangered.

The transfer continued.

28%.

29%.

30%.

Weiss shifted his aim.

I said stop it.

A gunshot erupted before anyone could react.

The operative at the terminal cried out and collapsed.

The drive remained connected.

Maya fired immediately.

Her bullet struck Weiss in the shoulder.

He staggered backward but did not fall.

The command core exploded into chaos.

Claire dropped behind a console.

Adrian pulled Matthias down beside her.

Maya's team returned fire as Weiss activated something on the central controls.

Blast shutters slammed down across the entrances.

A heavy locking mechanism sealed the room.

They were trapped inside the command core.

The countdown continued.

04:58.

04:57.

04:56.

The migration percentage climbed.

73%.

74%.

75%.

Nightglass was escaping into the wider network.

Matthias crawled toward the main console despite Adrian trying to stop him.

I can interrupt the migration.

You're bleeding.

Not enough to stop typing.

Claire moved with him, keeping low.

Tell me what you need.

The origin file transfer needs to continue, but the migration must stop. They're separate channels.

English, Matthias.

He gave her a strained look.

Save the evidence. Kill the system.

That she understood.

Maya slid behind another console, still covering Weiss.

Can you do it?

Matthias began entering commands.

Maybe.

Claire almost smiled despite the terror.

Everyone in this place says maybe.

The terminal flashed red.

ACCESS DENIED.

Matthias tried again.

Denied.

Again.

Denied.

Weiss laughed from across the room, clutching his bleeding shoulder.

You built parts of it, Matthias. You did not build all of it.

Matthias ignored him.

Adrian leaned closer.

What are we missing?

A biometric confirmation.

Whose?

Weiss's.

All eyes shifted toward Viktor Weiss.

He smiled through the pain.

Impossible.

Claire looked at Maya.

Can we force it?

Not without getting shot.

Weiss still held his weapon, though his aim had weakened.

The room shook violently.

An explosion outside the command core rattled the sealed shutters.

The facility was collapsing around them.

The countdown hit four minutes.

04:00.

03:59.

03:58.

The origin file transfer reached 61%.

Not enough.

The Nightglass migration reached 84%.

Too much.

Claire stared at the screens, searching for something useful.

A journalist's work was pattern recognition.

Facts. Contradictions. Weaknesses.

Then she saw it.

On one monitor, a live system map showed the migration pathways.

Most connections flowed outward from the facility.

But one pathway remained internal.

A line running through the old station network.

Station Alter.

The train.

The command core.

Claire pointed.

That route. What is it?

Matthias looked.

Legacy rail control.

Can it stop the migration?

No.

Can it interrupt power?

Maybe.

There was the word again.

Do it.

If I cut power, we may lose the origin file transfer too.

Claire looked at the fallen operative, the connected drive, the flashing percentage.

73%.

Enough to expose many names.

Not all.

But enough.

She made the decision.

Cut it.

Maya turned sharply.

We need the full file.

We need the system dead more.

Weiss laughed again.

You think like a reporter, not a strategist.

Claire looked at him.

Good.

Matthias rerouted the command.

A warning appeared.

LEGACY POWER INTERRUPTION MAY CAUSE SYSTEM FAILURE.

Claire nodded.

Do it.

Matthias pressed enter.

Nothing happened.

For one terrible second, Claire thought it had failed.

Then the entire command core went dark.

The screens shut off.

The alarms stopped.

The red countdown disappeared.

Silence hit like a physical force.

Then emergency backup power activated.

Only a few terminals returned.

The central screen flickered.

NIGHTGLASS MIGRATION FAILED.

Claire exhaled sharply.

The system was dead.

At least here.

The terminal holding the origin file reactivated seconds later.

Transfer status: 79%.

Completed partial archive saved.

Maya grabbed the drive.

Good enough.

Weiss screamed.

It was the first truly uncontrolled sound Claire had heard from him.

He raised the gun again.

Adrian moved before anyone else.

He slammed into Weiss, driving him against the console.

The gun fired once into the ceiling.

Maya's team rushed forward.

Within seconds, Weiss was disarmed and pinned to the floor.

Blood stained his sleeve.

His face twisted with rage.

You have no idea what you've done.

Claire stood slowly.

I know exactly what we did.

Outside the sealed room, another explosion shook the facility.

A crack spread across the ceiling.

Dust fell like gray snow.

Maya looked up.

We need to leave now.

The blast shutters refused to open.

Power interruption had locked the command core.

Dead end.

Again.

Matthias pointed weakly toward the rear wall.

Maintenance exit behind the cooling units.

Adrian helped him stand.

Of course there is.

Maya's soldiers dragged Weiss with them.

Claire took the black briefcase and the drive containing the partial origin file.

Proof.

Not perfect.

Not complete.

But enough to begin the end.

They forced open the maintenance exit and entered a narrow tunnel leading away from command core.

Behind them, the chamber collapsed piece by piece.

Ahead, the tunnel sloped upward toward the old service rail.

Claire looked back once.

The command core vanished behind smoke and falling debris.

Nightglass had reached its last stop.

But Claire knew the story was not finished.

Systems could be destroyed.

Facilities could fall.

But people with power rarely disappeared quietly.

The directorate was still out there.

And now Claire carried the evidence that could make them visible to the world.