Chapter 110 The Mask of the Traitor

Chapter 110 The Mask of the Traitor
The man in the mask held the knife to the CEO’s neck. The blade was sharp and glinted in the dying light of the basement. The CEO’s face, which had been full of pride just seconds ago, turned as pale as a sheet. He dropped the remote, and it clattered on the dusty floor.

"Who are you?" the CEO choked out.

The man in the mask didn't answer. He just tightened his grip. His movements were quick, quiet, and deadly. He was not one of the Board's soldiers. He was something else entirely.

I lay on the floor, my breath coming in short, painful gasps. The other Eara was still pinned under a pile of rubble. She looked at the man in the mask with wide, terrified eyes.

"Kael?" I whispered, though I knew it wasn't him. The man’s build was different. He moved with a cold, focused energy that Kael had never possessed.

The man in the mask looked at me. For a moment, his eyes met mine. They were grey, like a stormy sea. He didn't look like a stranger. There was something familiar about the way he stood, the way he carried himself. It hit me like a physical blow.

It was the man from the very first lab. The one who had saved me before I even knew I was a prisoner.

"You're alive," I said, my voice barely audible.

He didn't speak to me. He pushed the blade deeper. A tiny bead of red blood appeared on the CEO’s skin.

"The game is over," the man in the mask said. His voice was rough, like gravel rubbing against stone. "You wanted to test her? You wanted to build a better weapon? Well, you forgot to check if the weapon had a mind of its own."

"I am the owner!" the CEO screamed, his composure finally breaking. "I built this entire world! You can't touch me!"

"You didn't build it," the man said. "You stole it. And now, you’re going to give it back."

The man reached out with his free hand and grabbed the CEO’s wrist, forcing him to tap a series of keys on a hidden pad on his own sleeve. I watched as the golden dome above us began to shake. The energy lines that had trapped the thousands of people began to pulse and then flicker.

The pods started to open.

I saw them through the screens on the walls, people waking up. They were rubbing their eyes, looking around in confusion. Then, they started to stand. They were finally, truly free.

"No!" the CEO shrieked. "Stop it! They’ll destroy everything!"

"They’ll destroy you," the man corrected.

The man in the mask shoved the CEO hard, sending him flying into the wall. The CEO slumped to the floor, unconscious. The man then turned to the other Eara. She tried to scramble backward, but he was faster. He pulled a small, silver device from his belt and held it up.

"You are not Eara," he said to her. "You are just a copy of a ghost. And it is time for you to fade."

He pressed a button. The other Eara didn't scream. She didn't fight. She just folded inward, becoming a swarm of black static that drifted away like dust in the wind. She was gone, and I felt a strange, hollow ache in my chest. Even though she had tried to take my life, seeing her vanish made me feel like I had lost a piece of myself.

The man in the mask turned to me. He walked over and helped me up. His touch was firm, and he didn't let go until I was standing on my own. He reached up and pulled off the mask.

I gasped.

It was Kael.

But it wasn't the old man, and it wasn't the soldier. It was the Kael I had known in the garden, the one who had held my hand and promised to keep me safe. He looked younger and healthier, and his eyes were full of a fire I had never seen before.

"Kael? How? You were in the lab, and then you were old, and then..." I stopped, my brain reeling.

"There were many Kaels, Eara," he said, pulling me into a hug. It was warm. It was real. "The Board made copies of me, just like they made copies of you. I’ve been hunting the ones who were loyal to the CEO. I’ve been waiting for the right moment to strike."

"I thought I lost you," I said, burying my face in his shirt.

"You never lost me," he whispered. "You just had to find the right version."

We stood there for a moment, the only sound being the hum of the dying machines. The basement was quiet now. The threat was gone. The people were waking up. I felt like I could finally breathe.

"It’s over," I said. "We can just walk out of here."

Kael pulled back, his expression turning serious again. He looked toward the ceiling, where the drones were still hovering.

"Not yet," he said. He pointed to the monitors.

They weren't showing the pods anymore. They were showing a map of the city. And on every street, in every building, there was a red light blinking.

"They planted bombs," Kael said. "If the CEO falls, he triggers the collapse of the entire city. He wants to take everyone with him."

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

Kael looked at his watch. His face went pale.

"Three minutes," he said. "And the exit is locked."

I looked at the console. The only way to stop the bombs was to manually input the code for each one. But there were hundreds of them.

"We can't do it in time," I said, my heart sinking.

Kael looked at me, his eyes filled with a terrifying decision.

"We don't need to do them one by one," he said. "If we overload the core, it will short-circuit all the bombs at once. But someone has to stay here to hold the switch down while it charges."

He reached for the heavy lever on the wall.

"I'll do it," I said, reaching for his hand.

"No," Kael said, and he pushed me toward the emergency door. "You’ve done enough. You’re the only one who can lead them now."

He shoved me through the door and locked it from the inside.

"Kael, no!" I screamed, banging on the steel.

Through the small glass window, I saw him place his hand on the lever. He smiled, and then he pressed his palm against the glass, right where mine was.

"Go, Eara," he said. "The world is waiting."

He pulled the lever. A bright, blinding light filled the room, and the door behind me exploded outward.