The sound of boots pounding down the hallway outside grows louder, like a war drum signaling the inevitable. Jamie’s pulse races, his mind calculating the odds. Lyle is hunched over the terminal, fingers trembling as he continues to work, sweat beading on his forehead. Holmes has taken up a defensive position near the server room’s exit, gun drawn, eyes hard as stone.
“They’re almost on us,” Holmes growls. “Make a choice, Anderson. Do we go out guns blazing, or do we pull the plug on this whole operation?” Jamie stares at the servers, feeling the weight of his decision closing in. He had been in situations like this before, where every second mattered and each choice carved a path of consequences. But this one felt different. **Darker.** The system in his mind pulses, as if urging him to act, to trust in its power. But that power came with a cost—a cost he wasn’t willing to fully understand yet. “Jamie,” Lyle’s voice break
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20k Rolin Chapter 5: Emma’s Suspicion (0x05ES)
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