Chapter 22 up

Chapter 22 up
The night in London felt like a black canvas drenched in thick ink. A cold drizzle enveloped The Shard, the glass-fragmented skyscraper piercing the English sky with predatory arrogance. On the 72nd floor, behind bulletproof glass capable of withstanding a grenade blast, Mikhail Volkov stood sipping his expensive whiskey. He gazed at the city lights below as if all of London were his personal chessboard.
Below, on the churning surface of the River Thames, a small motorboat cut through the current with a near-silent engine. Felicia sat at the bow, her body wrapped in a black tactical cloak that concealed her new exoskeleton—a prototype model that was lighter, faster, and far more agonizing for her nerves. Elena had made the final modifications in their underground hideout: stripping away all safety protocols in exchange for maximum speed.
"One minute to the infiltration point," Elena’s voice crackled in Felicia’s earpiece. Elena wasn't physically present; she was in a van circling London Bridge, serving as their eyes and ears in the digital world. "Andre, you have forty seconds to disable the laser sensors at the private dock."
Andre, wearing a black wetsuit, gave a brief nod toward Felicia and slipped into the freezing water without a sound. Felicia closed her eyes, feeling the pulse in her wrist synchronize with the hum of the servo motors in her legs. The pain in her spine was no longer an enemy, but a companion reminding her she was alive.
"Sensors down. Move!" Andre commanded over the radio.
Felicia leapt from the boat, her feet hitting the concrete dock with a thud dampened by hydraulic technology. They didn't use the main elevators; Mikhail controlled every inch of their movement. Instead, they headed for the external ventilation shaft—a vertical path normally used by window-cleaning robots.
"Are you ready?" Andre asked, checking his magnetic rappelling gear.
"I’ve been ready since they burned down that orphanage, Andre," Felicia replied, her eyes flashing cold behind her tactical mask. "Tonight, there is no more running."
The Deadly Ascent
Climbing The Shard from the outside in the middle of a storm was a suicide mission for any ordinary human. Gale-force winds tried to hurl them into the river, while the rain made the glass surface treacherously slick. However, Felicia’s exoskeleton featured electromagnetic grips in its fingertips and boots. She crawled upward like an ancient predator, every movement governed by mechanical precision and human fury.
At the 50th floor, the building’s internal alarms began to blare. Mikhail was no fool; he had detected a breach in the structural integrity of the external facade.
"They know we’re here," Elena warned. "The 'Red Guard' team is heading for the observation deck. Felicia, you have to speed up your ascent!"
"I’ll hold them at the 68th floor," said Andre, ten meters below Felicia. "You keep going to the top. Mikhail is yours."
"Andre, no—"
"Go, Felicia! This is the role I have to play. Finish what we started!" Andre released his magnetic hook and swung his body through the glass of the 68th floor with a controlled explosion.
Felicia gritted her teeth. Tears nearly fell, but she suppressed them. She pushed the motors in her legs to the redline. The screech of metal grinding against glass sounded horrific amidst the roaring wind. She kept rising, passing through low-hanging clouds, until she finally reached Mikhail’s private balcony on the 72nd floor.
With a single hydraulic-powered kick, Felicia shattered the sliding glass door. She landed on a plush Persian rug, surrounded by luxury built upon the suffering of millions.
Mikhail Volkov did not run. He turned slowly, setting his whiskey glass on a marble table. Beside him stood two giant guards armed with high-frequency energy weapons.
"You actually came, Felicia," Mikhail said. His voice was smooth, resembling his brother Viktor’s, but with a purer tone of madness. "I must commend your persistence. Crossing continents just to die in a place with a view this beautiful."
"I didn’t come here to die, Mikhail," Felicia stepped forward, her cloak falling away to reveal her menacing black metal armor. "I came to collect a blood debt."
Battle Above the Clouds
"Kill her," Mikhail ordered flatly.
The two guards unleashed bursts of sonic waves. The air around Felicia vibrated violently, creating painful visual distortions. Felicia felt her internal organs being squeezed, but the frequency dampeners Elena had installed in her ears worked at full capacity. She lunged forward with a speed impossible for the human eye to track.
She slammed her fist into the first guard's chest, crushing his ribs and body armor simultaneously. Before the second guard could react, Felicia spun her body, using the momentum of her heavy exoskeleton to deliver a roundhouse kick that threw the man through the glass wall, sending him into a freefall toward the London darkness.
Now, only Felicia and Mikhail remained.
Mikhail drew a thin blade from beneath his jacket—a sword made of carbon fiber and coated in neurotoxin. "You think that machine makes you strong? You’re just a paralyzed woman hiding inside a sardine can."
Mikhail attacked with the agility of a ballet dancer. His blade sparked as it clashed with Felicia's metal arm guards. The fight raged fiercely in the vast living area. Mikhail was incredibly fast; he managed to slash Felicia’s shoulder where it wasn't protected by metal, leaving a searing heat that spread rapidly.
"That poison will paralyze your heart in three minutes," Mikhail mocked as he continued his assault.
Felicia fell to her knees. Her head began to spin. But amidst her fading consciousness, she heard Andre’s voice through the radio, which was still active. The sound of fierce gunfire on the floors below, Andre’s voice constantly cheering her on.
For our baby. For the future they stole.
Felicia’s rage erupted. She no longer cared about the pain or the poison. She commanded her brain to overdrive her mechanical systems.
"You talk about humanity, Mikhail?" Felicia stood up by sheer force, the motors in her legs emitting sparks that singed her trousers. "Your humanity died when you ordered the massacre of that orphanage. Today, I am the justice you created yourself!"
Felicia lunged, ignoring Mikhail’s blade as it cut into her abdomen. She caught Mikhail’s wrist and snapped it with a single squeeze of her metal hand. Mikhail shrieked, his sword clattering to the floor.
Felicia lifted Mikhail, forcing him to look down at the sprawling city of London.
"Look at it, Mikhail. That is the world you wanted to rule with famine. Look closely, because it’s the last thing you will ever see."
"You wouldn't dare kill me..." Mikhail gasped, his face pale with shock. "The Council will destroy you... Obsidian will..."
"Let them try," Felicia whispered.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the 72nd floor. Elena had successfully detonated The Shard's main server remotely. Fire began to consume the room. The building’s security systems started to collapse.
Felicia threw Mikhail into a corner of the burning room. She didn't kill him with her own hands; she left him trapped amidst the ruins of his own empire. She grabbed the final data unit from Mikhail’s desk—the evidence of the entire High Council member list worldwide.
"Felicia! You have to get out! This building is going to collapse in five minutes!" Elena screamed in her ear.
Felicia ran toward the balcony, but her steps halted. She saw Andre enter through the emergency door, his body riddled with gunshot wounds, yet he still smiled seeing his wife safe.
"Andre!" Felicia rushed to him, supporting her husband’s limp body.
"I told you... I’d hold them back..." Andre whispered, coughing up blood.
"Don't talk. We're leaving now!"
They reached the edge of the balcony. The remaining Shadow Unit helicopter, now led by Elena’s loyal contact, emerged from the fog. Felicia scooped Andre up and jumped, her metal hand gripping the dangling rescue line.
As the helicopter pulled away, The Shard exploded in a series of spectacular fireballs. The symbol of Obsidian Circle’s power in Britain crumbled into rubble on the banks of the Thames.
Dust and a New Dawn
The following morning, London woke up to headlines that shook the world. The massive fire at The Shard, the death of Mikhail Volkov, and the leaking of the "Black Contract" documents to Interpol and the mass media. The shadow empire began to crack globally.
In a medical ship cabin cruising toward international waters, Felicia sat beside Andre’s bed. Andre was in stable condition after surgery to remove three bullets from his body. Elena stood by the window, watching a sunrise that felt warm for the first time.
Felicia removed her exoskeleton. This time, she did it calmly. She looked at the scars on her body, a map of the suffering she had endured. She was no longer the same woman she was six months ago. She was a warrior, a survivor, and now... a victor.
"We did it, Elena," Felicia said softly.
"Not all of it, Felicia," Elena handed her a tablet. "The documents you took from Mikhail... there’s one name missing. The name of the High Council’s supreme leader. The person who actually gave the order to burn your orphanage twenty years ago."
Felicia looked at the screen. The name was not written in letters, but in the symbol of a black circle with a dot in the center. A symbol Felicia recognized from the necklace her mother, Ratna, always wore before they were separated at the orphanage.
Felicia’s heart seemed to stop. A terrifying possibility began to emerge in her mind. The deepest betrayal might not have come from an enemy, but from the past she held sacred.
"This symbol..." Felicia whispered. "My mother... she knew something much bigger."
Andre opened his eyes slowly, reaching for Felicia’s hand. "Whatever it is, we’ll face it together, Felicia. No more secrets."
Felicia looked out toward the open sea. The war against the Volkovs might be over, but the war to find the truth about her origins had just entered its darkest chapter. She had brought down The Shard, but she had yet to tear down the root of all her suffering.
"Prepare the team," Felicia said, her voice full of determination once again. "We’re going back to Jakarta. It all started there, and it must all end there."