Reborn Heart of Steel

The room spun around as I examined the picture of Chase, maltreated and handcuffed. He makes me shake in my boots, or in my case, my hands trembled so hard carrying the phone almost slipped off my hands. Beside me, Zoe’s face had turned pale. “Oh my God,” she said softly. It was seeing everything in a thought-provoking way that I finally blurted out, “What are we going to do?” I had to calm myself down or simply try to breathe, for there was no sense in getting hysterical just then; more than anything else, that was what I felt like doing. No, not with Chase’s life on the line and, on top of that, the entire city in danger. “We need to think,” I said, my voice somewhat calming compared to the inside of my head. When The Raven says he wants to make a deal, then there is something that he wants and we have it. Zoe nodded slowly. “The USB drive. The information which Harris gave to you. ” “Precisely. But you cannot just give it to him. Not when it can be used to prevent him from going through with it. ” The next hour was spent in scrutiny of the files we had been able to decipher in the hope of finding something that was useful to us. The deeper we went, the more terrible The Raven’s plan looked like.

It is perhaps ironic that while he was planning the bombs to be detonated, it was not going to be just those. It was chemical weapons, synchronized cyberattacks on infrastructures, and an elaborate plan on how to disrupt the city emergency services. Zoe sighed, “Bri, this is crazy,” she said more to herself as she rubbed her eyes. “How are we supposed to stop all of it?” I had barely finished my words when my phone rang for the second time. Another message from The Raven “I have underestimated you, but not anymore. Tick tick tick little birds. Deliver the USB drive to the observatory tonight at midnight sharp alone, otherwise, your friend will be the one who will come back in a body bag. ” Also included was another picture of Chase with a gun pointed at his head at the temple. My heart was streaming in my throat. “We have to go,” I told Zoe as I started putting on my jacket. Zoe grabbed my arm. ‘Bri, stop,’ she said, ‘too early to attack them, it is clearly a trap. ‘ “I know,” I echoed, trying my best to hide my fear. “But what do we do then? We can’t allow them to harm Chase. ” Finally, Zoe was speechless for a while with her face revealing she was deep in thinking. There is a question I have always pondered upon, and it goes like, “What if… what if we could be in two places at once?” I lifted my eyebrows inquisitively as I looked at her. “What do you mean?” “I mean, one person can go to the observatory with a fake USB, and the other – with real data to someone, for example, that detective who arrived a little earlier?” In one way or another, it was a high risk, but it was just the best we could come up with. We then proceeded to spend the next few hours copying random data onto a flash drive and staring at blueprints and any other information that could be found online about the observatory. Thus, as the due time approached, we got all set up. While the real USB was in Zoe’s hand, I would go to the observatory. Both of us understood the risks with which we were dealing, but it was impossible to stop at this point. “Be careful,” was the last thing Zoe was able to say before we bid each other farewell, her vocal tone filled with sorrow. I just simply managed to give a nod as my throat felt tight, and I stopped breathing for a second from the shock that I could no longer find proper words to say. Every one of us understood that it was possible that this was the final meeting . The journey to the observatory was something which was filled with constant apprehension. In the darkness, every pitch black car seemed to pose some sort of threat. I slowed as I entered the vicinity of the towering building with a gigantic dome that could be seen even by night and at a moment, my heart felt like it would burst in my chest. I went there in the evening and there was no car in the parking lot. All I heard was the sound of my shoe hitting the gravel of the tarmac as I walked towards the entrance. I gently opened the door and stepped into the office, where the lobby was dim, full of dust and debris all over the place. “Hello?” I asked, my voice entered the area and bounced off the walls. “I’m here,” “I brought what you asked for. ” It was so quiet for what could have been a full minute. Then, there appeared a person-albeit a sort of shadowy figure. Super evolved syd slims is basically a tall and skinny man, he wears black clothes from head to toe and his face is hidden behind the black mask. But then I focused on his eyes; it was difficult to read what was going on inside him, but the glint in his eyes was anything but warm; they were those of a hunter who had locked onto his target. “The USB drive,” he repeated, his voice so low and rough as if he hadn’t used it in weeks. “Hand it over. ” So I took out the decoy and raised it up for them to see and the four of them held their breath. “Not until I see Chase alive,” I demanded, since there was no way to be sure that he even existed beyond a name on a piece of paper. The man glared at me before acknowledging someone behind me and Chase was practically pulled into the room, tied and gagged. His face was swollen, and he appeared to be weak, but I saw joy in his eyes when he looked at me. “Chase!” I called out with a step forward in his direction. “Ah, ah,” said the first man, threatening the others with a gun. “The drive first. ” I extended the USB drive, but I could barely hold it because of the shaking. I noticed something outside the corner of my eye as the man stretched to grab it. Chase had somehow twisted around and freed his right hand, and he was signaling behind the back of one of the men holding him. As they dragged me, I cracked up and decided. I chucked the drive at the leader’s face and rolled to the side while Chase swung at one of his guards, causing him to stagger back. Chaos erupted. A couple of gunshots sounded and reverberated obnoxiously in the confined area. I had the presence of mind to seek cover behind a large display case which was knocked over and as the bullets whizzed past I was hit by the raw terror of the situation. Amidst the dust, I realized some of the masked men were attacking Chase, and they were fighting. “Run!” he shouted finally, and his voice did sound quite raspy. “Bri, you get out of here,” But I couldn’t leave him, not again. I searched about frantically for something, maybe just something to defend myself with. My right hand searched for a stump of metal and my fingers tightened on it. At that moment, the screams and cries for help were joined by another sound; the wail of police cars, getting nearer and nearer. The men shuffled back, wearing grill-like masks and turned to stare at each other with wide, horrified eyes. ‘You mean that’s not part of the job?’ asked another as one of them shouted ‘It’s a setup!’ These words, in combination with the roars of the angry crowd pursuing him, shocked him to the core- “We’ve got to get out of here!” They rushed towards the door, making Chase follow them before struggling. I was rising to my feet, even prepared to chase after the guy, when a hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder. Turning on my heels, prepared to clock whoever had dared intrude my space, I came face to face with Detective Reeves.

Easy there,” he said, his tone was deep and scratchy, but there was no hostility in it. “Go and find a safe zone to rest in. You’ve played the hero for one night. ” Then, as even more officers entered the building, I sank with relief. It was over. We were safe. But then I looked at the face of Detective Reeves and immediately my heart sank deep into my stomach. “Sorry, Brianna,” he said, and brandished a pair of handcuffs. “But you are under arrest for the murder of Agent Harris,” Reeves replied.

While reading the Miranda warning I felt a whirlwind going round my head. This can’t be happening. No, not now, not when we were so close to exposing the facts. “Wait,” I said desperately. “Oh you know nothing. The Raven is up to something big. We have evidence that Zoe has the USB stick with all the records. ” Detective Reeves stopped as he tried to read the expression on my face, saying,Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“What USB drive? We took your friend Zoe one hour ago. She had nothing on her. ” My heart dropped as I realized what this was saying to me: if Zoe had been arrested then the real USB was no longer in my possession. And with such evidence missing, how was it possible to nail the plans of The Raven? Thinking this, handcuffed, I was led out of the observatory deep in my thoughts. Out there, The Raven roamed as a man who plots to keep their plans alive and roams for the right time to execute them. But now, with both Chase and me arrested, there was no one to portray the brakes to his rampage. The future of this city was uncertain and time was fast running out for the people who lived there as well as the whole world. In the rearview mirror I saw the police car driving off, and I knew that this wasn’t the end, no not by a long shot, this was only the beginning of something infinitely more terrible.