Race Against Time

The countdown continued its relentless march— 29:48… 29:47…

Ethan's fingers flew across the console as he bypassed the security firewalls of the nuclear plant's systems. His neural interface projected streams of raw data into his vision, his mind working faster than his hands could keep up.

"Come on, come on," he muttered.

Outside, Mariam had parked the Sprint Vortex in an abandoned lot, her hands racing over the controls as she patched the car's computational core into SHIELD's mainframe. The interior of the Vortex was dimly lit by cascading lines of code as it linked to Ethan's system.

"I've rerouted everything I can," Mariam reported, her voice tight with focus. "SHIELD's network is now running at full power through the Vortex."

"Perfect," Ethan said, already deep in the plant's security grid. His interface displayed layer upon layer of encrypted failsafes. The Syndicate hadn't just planned this; they had fortified it.

Stein was thorough.

Ethan smirked. "Too bad I'm better."

He deployed a quantum decryption algorithm, his own custom creation—a virus that could adapt in real time to counter hostile encryption. The system resisted, pushing back with countermeasures, but Ethan's AI-assisted hacking outmaneuvered them.

27:12… 27:11…

A new warning flashed in his vision. "Intrusion detected."

His hands froze.

"Stein is still in the system," Ethan realized.

A second presence in the nuclear plant's digital infrastructure—a shadow moving within the code. Stein wasn't just watching; he was fighting back.

Ethan clenched his jaw. "Mariam, I need you to—"

His words cut off as a surge of electricity crackled through the underground chamber. The console exploded, sending sparks and debris flying.

Ethan threw himself backward, rolling onto his feet. His kinetic shield flickered as it absorbed most of the blast, but the damage was done—the primary access point was destroyed.

Stein's voice came through the speakers, calm and amused.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?"

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "No. That's why I have a backup plan."

Before Stein could respond, Ethan pulled a small holo-drive from his belt and connected it to the remaining functional terminal.

A direct neural link.

Mariam gasped over the comms. "Ethan, you can't—"

"I have to," he interrupted, bracing himself.

A neural link was dangerous—especially against an AI-backed opponent like Stein. But it was his best chance.

Without hesitation, Ethan connected himself directly to the system.

Digital Battlefield

The world around him shifted.

Ethan's mind was no longer in the underground chamber—it was in the virtual landscape of the nuclear plant's security system.

A city of towering firewalls and glowing datastreams surrounded him, but in the center of it all stood a dark figure cloaked in shifting data.

Stein.

Or rather, his AI construct.

The figure's glowing red eyes fixed on Ethan. "You're persistent."

Ethan smirked, digital energy crackling around his form. "You sound surprised."

Stein raised a hand, and the entire digital world shifted. The ground beneath Ethan became unstable as black data tendrils lashed out at him, trying to pull him into a system lock.

Ethan reacted instantly, summoning a pulse of blue energy that severed the tendrils before they could entrap him. His hacker's arsenal was fully online—firewalls, counter-hacks, decryption tools—all at his mental command.

The two of them clashed in the digital battlefield, each trying to outmaneuver the other.

Stein launched a brute-force attack, attempting to override Ethan's consciousness.

Ethan countered with a data fragmenter, splitting himself into multiple versions to confuse the AI.

Stein responded with a system purge, erasing entire portions of the battlefield.

Ethan barely dodged the deletion wave, rolling into a new position before retaliating with a code virus bomb. The explosion of corrupted data forced Stein to retreat.

"Impressive," Stein admitted. "But you're running out of time."

Ethan glanced at the system clock—14:29… 14:28…

He needed to end this now.

Summoning his last override protocol, Ethan rewrote the plant's access structure, transferring full control to himself. The entire system trembled as Stein's presence began fading—his AI was being purged from the network.

Stein's final words echoed in the digital void.

"You think you've won? This was never the end."

Then he was gone.

Reality Crashes Back

Ethan gasped as he was violently pulled back into reality. His neural interface overloaded, causing a spike of pain to shoot through his skull.

He staggered, barely catching himself against the console.

"Mariam," he croaked. "Status?"

Her voice came through, breathless. "You did it. The reactor's stabilizing."

Ethan exhaled in relief, collapsing into the chair. His entire body felt like it had been through hell, but the city was safe.

The countdown stopped at 02:37.

Just in time.

Sophia's voice crackled over the comms. "Ethan, we're seeing the shutdown sequence. You actually pulled it off."

"Of course I did," Ethan said, though he was too exhausted to put any arrogance behind it.

Mariam exhaled audibly. "I swear, you're going to give me a heart attack one day."

He smiled faintly. "Not today."

But even as the crisis ended, Ethan's mind was already racing ahead.

Stein's last words bothered him.

"This was never the end."

Ethan knew the truth.

This was just the beginning.