The High-Speed Getaway

Victor Kain stood at the exit, flanked by two bodyguards in sleek black tactical gear. Their hands rested on their weapons – not raised, not yet, but close enough that Ethan's heart started hammering.

"You didn't really think I wasn't watching, did you?" Kain said smoothly, stepping forward. His polished dress shoes made no sound against the tile, but Ethan felt the weight of each step.

Think, think, think. 

Ethan forced a smile, masking the panic surging through him. "Victor, I was just getting some air. Long night."

Kain tilted his head, studying him like a predator gauging its prey. "I'll bet". He gestured lazily to the duffel bag slung over Ethan's shoulder. "Going somewhere?"

Ethan's grip tightened. He knew he had seconds before this went from a tense conversation to a bullet – riddled nightmare. 

So he did the only thing he could. He threw the flash grenade. A burst of white hot light and deafening noise filled the room. Kain's men shouted, momentarily blinded. Ethan spun, bolting for the parking garage.

Ethan's self – driving Sedan sat near the exit, its engine already running. As he sprinted towards it, a gunshot cracked the air – a bullet punched the concrete wall inches from his head. 

"Stop him!" Kain's voice rang out, still sharp even through the disorientation. Ethan dove into the car, the door sliding shut as he slammed his palm against the dashboard and said "Drive!"

The AI – powered vehicle lurched forward, tires screeching. In the rearview mirror, Kain's men were already recovering. A black SUV peeled out of the garage after him.

Ethan exhaled sharply. "Of course they have pursuit teams." The AI voice chimed in calmly. "Threat detected. Activating evasive protocols."

"Yeah, do that!" Ethan snapped as he gripped the wheel, overriding manual control. The Sedan shot onto the main road, weaving through late – night traffic in downtown Seattle. Streetlights flickered past in a blur. Behind him, the SUV gained ground, headlights burning bright. Then a second vehicle appeared, then a third. 

"Fantastic," Ethan muttered, "They brought a whole welcoming committee." 

Ethan's brain went into overdrive. He wasn't just an engineer – he was a problem solver. And right now, the problem was three heavily armed pursuit teams trying to kill him. Time to improvise. He pulled up his holo – display, fingers flying across the city grid he had breached weeks ago just for fun.

"Alright Seattle, let's see what you've got." With a few keystrokes, he hijacked the city's traffic control system. Streetlights behind him all turned green at once, sending a flood of cars into the intersection – cutting the SUVs behind him. 

One of Kain's drivers swerved violently, barely missing a collision. "Neat, trick', Ethan grinned. The other SUVs didn't stop, they went off – road, cutting through a construction site, their tires chewing through dirt and gravel. One of them open fired, bullets sparking against Ethan's rear bumper. "Okay, plan B then", he said. 

He flicked through the grid controls again, this time targeting the underground tunnels. A few more key strokes, and he rerouted a city maintenance drone to trigger a fire suppression system ahead. Right as his car flew under an over pass, a wall of pressurized water erupted behind him, soaking the road.

One of Kain's SUVs hit the slick road at full speed, spun out and slammed sideways into a lamppost. "Two more to go." 

Ethan turned sharply onto an empty service road. The remaining SUVs followed close, their high – performance engines roaring. Ethan had one more trick left, his mind racing. Reaching under his seats, he grabbed a small handheld device, an EMP disruptor he had built for emergencies. 

"Let's see how much you like zero electronics." As the SUVs closed in, he activated the pulse. A burst of electromagnetic energy rippled outward. Instantly, the lead SUVs engine cut out. Its dashboard flickered, then died completely. The driver lost control. 

The SUV veered wildly, flipping end over end before crashing onto its roof. 

Ethan barely had time to process the explosion before the final vehicle swerved around the wreckage, still in pursuit. 

Ethan's Sedan hit the freeway on – ramp, merging into nighttime traffic.

The last SUV was right behind him, gaining speed. A new voice crackled over Ethan's hacked comms. "You've got nowhere left to run, Doctor."

Ethan's blood went cold. Kain himself was in the last car. Ethan exhaled slowly, "That so?" He checked his fuel levels. Low. Checked his route options. Not great. But then he saw it. 

A rail bridge ahead, temporarily closed for maintenance. A gap in the barricades – just wide enough for a car. 

No hesitation. 

Ethan swerved onto the emergency lane, flooring the accelerator. The car rocketed towards the bridge. Kain's SUV followed. "Don't do it Vance", Kain's voice sharp and dangerous. 

But Ethan was already committed. At the last second, he flipped the manual override switch, cutting the Sedan's AI. He gripped the wheel, held his breath and gunned it toward the gap. 

The car launched of the bridge's edge. For a brief, weightless second, Ethan was airborne. 

Then the Sedan slammed onto the other side, tires screeching as it landed.

Kain's SUV wasn't so fortunate. The barricades weren't as forgiving. His vehicle hit the edge at full speed and plunged off the bridge into the dark waters below. 

Ethan didn't wait to see if Kain made it out. He kept driving. He was gone. 

An hour later, Ethan pulled into a remote airstrip, his adrenaline finally wearing off.

A private jet was waiting. He grabbed his duffel bag, walked up the stairs and collapsed into a seat. The pilot turned, "Where to, Dr. Vance?" Ethan exhaled. "Anywhere but here."

As the plane lifted off, one thought burned in his mind. Kain wasn't dead. And when he resurfaced, he'd come for revenge. One thing was clear, Ethan had to disappear.

But in the back of his mind, another fear lingered, if Kain ever found out about Elara… she'd never be safe again. 

Ethan Vance sat motionless in the jet cabin, staring out the window as the city shrank beneath him.

His hands trembled, not from fear, but from what he'd just done. He'd destroyed the only known digital record of the Multiplier. Wiped clean. Gone.

But not forgotten.

Inside his duffel bag was the last trace of it: a single black encrypted drive—raw code, hardware notes, and half of his regrets. He hadn't let go of it since takeoff.

"You're airborne," came Felix's voice over the secure communicator. "Nice job. I almost believed you weren't going to make it."

"I almost didn't," Ethan replied quietly.

A pause.

"Did he see you leave?" Felix asked.

"Kain was there," Ethan said, voice tight. "He knows."

Another silence.

Then: "I'm off-grid for good, Ethan. You should do the same. Disappear."

"I can't disappear." He looked out the window. "Not while she's out there."

"Elara?"

Ethan didn't answer.

He didn't have to.

The memory came uninvited.

He was younger. Not yet gray at the temples. Holding a crying infant wrapped in soft yellow fabric. Elara.

The lab had just announced its biggest breakthrough. The prototype core had stabilized. They'd called him a genius. A savior.

But all he saw was a future where this little girl would inherit a world too dangerous for innocence.

"Shh," he whispered, bouncing her gently. "One day, they'll call you the smartest one in the room."

She had looked up at him with bright, trusting eyes. She didn't understand the weight he already carried for her.

She didn't know he would leave her.

The jet's dashboard chimed.

Ethan looked up as the cockpit lights flickered red.

INCOMING OBJECT DETECTED – UNIDENTIFIED DRONE – TRAJECTORY LOCKED

"What is that?" Ethan muttered, rising.

The co-pilot turned from the console. "Sir, we've got an untagged aircraft—high-altitude drone. Gaining fast."

Ethan's blood turned to ice.

"Kain."

"How could he track us this quickly?" the pilot asked.

"He's not tracking the jet," Ethan said. "He's tracking me."

Another alarm shrieked.

MISSILE LOCK DETECTED

"Evasive now!" Ethan shouted.

The pilot yanked the stick. The jet banked hard left, throwing Ethan against the wall. Outside the window, clouds split open as the drone screamed past—a sleek, black-winged predator armed with twin railguns and an underbelly missile bay.

Kain hadn't wasted time.

He'd deployed a hunter-killer.

Inside the drone, an AI system calculated its kill arc. It didn't care about laws. Or politics. Only the target.

A kill switch flicked green.

MISSILE LAUNCHED

Ethan watched the streak of white fire burst toward them.

"Countermeasures!" he yelled.

Flares launched from the belly of the jet, exploding in bursts of light. The missile twisted, confused, veered—

And detonated mid-air.

The shockwave still hit them.

The jet rocked. Oxygen masks dropped. The cabin dimmed as systems rebooted.

Ethan stumbled, heart pounding, grabbing for the duffel.

"We need altitude—fast!" the pilot yelled.

"Can we outrun it?"

"No. But maybe we can out-think it."

The co-pilot rerouted power. "Manual override on navigation. We're skimming the commercial lanes—hiding in civilian air traffic."

Risky. Illegal.

Genius. 

Below them, dozens of commercial planes lit up the radar. Civilian flights. Kain's drone wouldn't fire among them without risking exposure.

The jet leveled out.

The drone shadowed them, but didn't attack.

For now.

"Coordinates locked for the Arctic drop zone," the pilot called. "Ten minutes out."

Ethan nodded.

That was the plan: fake a crash, dump the jet, and vanish. He'd meet an off-grid contact from the old network. From there, he'd become a ghost.

But part of him wasn't ready to disappear.

Part of him still wanted to run to her.

To Elara.

He sat back down, breathing hard. Pulled the photo from the duffel's side pocket.

It was faded now.

A girl, age six, arms crossed, expression fierce, sitting on the hood of an old rover. She'd insisted on wearing sunglasses even in the shade. "Like spies do," she'd said.

That memory, like a shard of glass, stayed lodged in his chest.

"I'm sorry," Ethan whispered. "You didn't ask for this."

He closed his eyes.

"Please forgive me… if this is all you remember."

The drone peeled away just before the cloud line.

As planned.

The pilot dropped the signal beacon—designed to simulate an explosion.

Two minutes later, the Multiplier's creator disappeared from every grid, every scan, and every satellite.

Ethan Vance was officially dead.

But somewhere, in a secure university across the country…

His daughter was alive.

And everything was about to change.

QOTC:

If you were Ethan, would you have faked your death too… or faced the danger head-on?

Drop your thoughts in the comments! 👇