Chapter 9: Aftermath and Suspicions

I wake to the acrid smell of smoke and the distant wail of sirens. My head throbs, and for a moment, I can't remember where I am. Then it all comes rushing back—the explosion, Ethan's panicked face, the crumbling walls of Drake Technologies.

Ethan. Where is he?

I push myself up, ignoring the protest of my aching muscles. Debris litters the floor around me, and a fine layer of dust coats everything in sight. Through the haze, I spot a sliver of light—a gap in the rubble that must lead to the corridor.

"Ethan?" I call out, my voice hoarse. No response.

Gritting my teeth, I crawl towards the opening. Each movement sends shards of pain through my body, but I push on. I have to find him. I have to make sure he's okay.

As I squeeze through the gap, a thought hits me like a bucket of ice water. The quantum computer files. Were they destroyed in the blast? All that invaluable data, gone in an instant?

I shake my head, forcing myself to focus. First things first—find Ethan, ensure he's safe. Then we can worry about the data.

The corridor is a mess of fallen ceiling tiles and shattered glass. Emergency lights flicker weakly, casting eerie shadows that dance along the walls. I stumble forward, using the wall for support.

"Ethan!" I call again, louder this time. "Can anyone hear me?"

A groan echoes from somewhere ahead. My heart leaps into my throat as I quicken my pace, ignoring the pain shooting through my leg.

I round a corner and there he is—Ethan, pinned beneath a fallen beam. His face is pale, streaked with blood and dust, but his eyes light up when he sees me.

"Olivia," he croaks. "You're alive."

I rush to his side, assessing the situation. The beam looks heavy, but not impossible to move. "I'm going to get you out of here," I promise, already searching for leverage.

As I work to free him, Ethan's hand closes around my wrist. "The files," he whispers urgently. "Did you—"

"I don't know," I admit, the weight of potential loss settling in my stomach. "Let's focus on getting you out first."

With a herculean effort, I manage to lift the beam just enough for Ethan to slide out. He collapses against me, his breathing labored. I wrap an arm around his waist, supporting his weight as we make our way towards the emergency exit.

The stairwell is mercifully clear of debris. We descend slowly, each step a small victory. As we near the ground floor, the sounds of chaos grow louder—shouting voices, crackling radios, the continuous wail of sirens.

We emerge into the afternoon sun, blinking against the sudden brightness. Paramedics rush towards us, and I reluctantly let them take Ethan from my arms. As they guide him towards an ambulance, our eyes lock. There's a question there, an urgency that has nothing to do with his injuries.

I nod, understanding. While the paramedics tend to Ethan, I slip back into the building, ignoring the shouts of protest behind me. I have to know if the quantum computer files survived.

The trip back up feels infinitely longer without Ethan. By the time I reach his office, I'm gasping for breath, my lungs burning from exertion and lingering smoke. The door is jammed, but I manage to force it open with a well-placed kick.

The office is a disaster zone. Shattered glass crunches beneath my feet as I pick my way towards Ethan's desk. The computer there is clearly unsalvageable, the screen a spider web of cracks. But that's not what I'm looking for.

I drop to my knees, ignoring the fresh cuts from the glass, and feel along the underside of the desk. There—a small indentation. I press it, and a hidden compartment slides open with a soft click.

Inside is a sleek, black external hard drive. My hands shake as I reach for it, hardly daring to hope. Could it really be this easy?

As my fingers close around the device, a shadow falls across the room. I whirl around, the hard drive clutched to my chest, to find a figure silhouetted in the doorway.

"Well, well," a familiar voice drawls. "What have we here?"

Victoria. The new board member. What is she doing here?

She steps into the room, glass crunching beneath her stilettos. In the dim light, her smile looks almost predatory. "I'm impressed, Dr. Chen. I didn't think you'd risk coming back for that."

My mind races. How does she know about the hard drive? Why isn't she surprised to see me here?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie, taking a step back. "I came to check on Ethan's office."

Victoria's laugh is cold, devoid of humor. "Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." She holds out her hand. "Why don't you give me that hard drive, and we can pretend this never happened?"

I clutch the device tighter. "I don't think so."

Her eyes narrow. "Don't be foolish, Olivia. You have no idea what you're dealing with here. That information... it's bigger than you, bigger than Ethan, bigger than this entire company."

"Then why do you want it so badly?" I counter.

For a moment, something flashes in Victoria's eyes—desperation? Fear? But it's gone so quickly I can't be sure I didn't imagine it.

"Last chance," she says softly. "Hand it over."

I shake my head, taking another step back. My heel hits the wall. I'm cornered.

Victoria sighs, as if disappointed. "I had hoped we could do this the easy way." She reaches into her jacket, and my blood runs cold as she pulls out a gun. "But I suppose we'll have to do things the hard way."

Time seems to slow. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears, feel the weight of the hard drive in my hands. All the questions I've had since this began—about Ethan's secret project, about the strange visions I've been having, about the true nature of Drake Technologies—they all pale in comparison to the immediate threat before me.

I have seconds to decide. Do I hand over the hard drive and potentially lose the key to unraveling this entire mystery? Or do I risk my life to protect information I don't even fully understand?

Victoria's finger tightens on the trigger. "Time's up, Dr. Chen. What's it going to be?"

In that moment, I make my choice. I clutch the hard drive tighter and meet Victoria's gaze. "If you want it," I say, my voice steadier than I feel, "you'll have to kill me."

Her eyes widen, just a fraction, and I realize I've surprised her. She wasn't expecting this level of defiance. For a heartbeat, we're both frozen, locked in a standoff neither of us anticipated.

Then, the world explodes into chaos once more.