Chapter 164 The Privilege to Kill You Legally
Chapter 164 The Privilege to Kill You Legally
What else did Isaac say over the comms?
"Chief, the medical freeze was implemented according to Article Nine of the Global Biosafety Convention."
"All the legal paperwork is ready, but we have no lawful way to reverse it."
Wayne didn't answer Isaac's question. Instead, he spoke to the screen.
"Out of the thirty thousand people, over four thousand are critically injured. Without water or medicine, half of them will die within seventy-two hours."
"That's not my problem." Bell's voice came through the screen, calm to the point of nausea.
"That's the consequence of the choice 'you' made."
The image on screen switched from Bell's face to an overlapping world map.
Seventeen red dots pulsed across it, each followed by a number.
Thirty-two thousand lives reduced to seventeen blinking dots on a screen.
The camera cut back to Bell's face.
"What I'm about to say next should interest you more."
He picked up the document from his desk and opened the first page to the camera.
Wayne's left eye flared blue, then quickly dimmed.
The document referenced Federal Supreme Council Emergency Resolution 2847.
"Subject: International mandatory quarantine of a city suspected of high-risk genetic virus outbreak."
Morrison slammed his fist into the wall. "Again?"
"The difference is, last time it was a missile strike. This time it's human intervention." The white-haired doctor's voice came from behind.
Bell closed the document and set it back on the desk.
"I hold voting rights for three sovereign nations. The resolution passed before I even made this call."
Isaac's voice was nearly shouting.
"The resolution was approved seven minutes ago and has the backing of a multinational joint task force."
"They're using epidemic control and peacekeeping as excuses to forcibly quarantine and seize control!"
"Fleet size!"
"Three destroyers, two amphibious assault ships, twelve carrier aircraft—all equipped with the latest electromagnetic shielding armor coating."
The white-haired doctor picked up the thread and delivered the most critical line.
"The electromagnetic shielding coating will block Wayne's satellite control methods."
Bell settled back into his chair, hands clasped on the desk.
"They're forty minutes out. The commander has international clearance to demand the military district stand down completely."
"If you refuse to cooperate, the joint fleet can shell the entire city under the justification of 'preventing viral spread.'"
Wayne turned. Rivera stood in the doorway, pale-faced—he'd arrived without anyone noticing.
Rivera's voice came out rough. "Chief, the military district received a direct order from the World Alliance Peacekeeping Forces."
"What does it say?"
Rivera's hand trembled as he held his phone—not from fear, but from rage with nowhere to go.
"Lay down all weapons and open the port and airport within thirty minutes."
"Otherwise, they'll prosecute all who resist under crimes against humanity charges, and implement explosive sanitization protocols for a high-risk epidemic zone."
Morrison rushed to Wayne. "Chief, then let's fight. Last time you redirected those missiles—what about now?"
Wayne cut him off. "We can't win."
"Why not?"
The white-haired doctor answered for Wayne.
"The electromagnetic shielding coating renders all electronic warfare methods useless. Missile guidance commands can't be altered, and the satellite network won't function."
Morrison's hands dropped to his sides.
Bell's voice played through the screen.
"The day after Rivera fires a shot, newspapers worldwide will run stories about a warlord attacking World Alliance peacekeeping forces. Your entire nation will face the consequences."
"Wayne, you can kill people—your speed and efficiency are top-tier."
"But what you're facing now is the collective voice of one hundred seventy-three nations."
Rivera remained in the doorway. His comms crackled with his deputy's calls, but he didn't respond.
"The task force commander's exact words." Isaac's voice had lost its earlier inflection, flattening into numb monotone.
"We're here to save humanity. Those who obstruct us are accomplices to crimes against humanity."
The emergency lights in the hospital room flickered back on. On screen, Bell raised a glass of water to his lips.
"Rivera, think it over carefully before you decide."
"I've got four hundred of your old subordinates alive thanks to my chips. Your city has three million civilians."
"You fire one shot, I'll make all three million die with you."
Rivera's mouth moved, but no sound came out.
Wayne stood beside Jenny's bed, walls closing in from every direction.
Force couldn't penetrate electromagnetic shielding armor. Electronic warfare couldn't affect the new coating. Any conventional military resistance would be branded a crime against humanity.
Outside: the combined naval forces of one hundred seventy-three nations. Inside: a little girl on a ventilator.
---
That sound came not from the screen or comms equipment, but from Jenny herself.
The white-haired doctor was first to her bedside, fingers pressed to the artery in her neck.
Three seconds later, his fingers froze.
"The gene lock maintenance signal is degrading."
He flipped over the tablet with its half-shattered screen and glanced at the residual data.
"The core code's been remotely triggered with a hardware self-destruct protocol."
Emily grabbed the white-haired doctor's arm. "What's happening?"
"The gene lock device's base-level chip wasn't developed by Griffin."
The white-haired doctor said, "The Eden Council gave Griffin that technology foundation twelve years ago."
Bell's voice came through the screen, pace unchanged.
"Veronica also modified the cooling unit's authentication key. Well done."
He paused for one second.
"But there's a hardware self-destruct module inside the gene lock maintenance device—a physical structure soldered onto the circuit board."
"Like Griffin's fusible link. Software can't change hardware."
The white-haired doctor opened the emergency kit and started an IV for Jenny, pushing medication into her vein so urgently the needle nearly slipped out.
"Body temperature dropping to 36.2°C, 35.8°C. Immune function showing abnormalities."
Emily placed her fingers on Jenny's forehead. "Jenny, Mommy's here."
Jenny hadn't woken. The cardiac monitor was already damaged.
The white-haired doctor had to feel Jenny's pulse manually to gauge her vital signs.
"It's slowing." He bit out the words.
Wayne moved to the white-haired doctor's side. "How long."
"If the hardware self-destruct module keeps sending termination commands, her organs will liquefy in five minutes."
"Can you stop it."
The white-haired doctor shook his head—once, then stopped, as if he'd lost the strength for a second shake.