The heist began at 0800 station time.
Dr. Chen logged into the genetic database from his SSS terminal, as he did every month for routine maintenance. Nothing unusual. Nothing suspicious.
But this time, buried in his login credentials, was a backdoor Elara had coded.
Three levels down, in the old vault, Reza's fingers flew across her terminal.
"I'm in," she whispered. "Accessing database now."
The team watched on monitors as lines of code scrolled past.
"Chen's holding the door open," Elara narrated. "Giving us admin access. Uploading virus now."
The virus was elegant. Simple. Devastating. It would find every genetic record in the database and randomly reassign caste markers. Alpha became Gamma. Gamma became Beta. Beta became Alpha. Complete chaos.
"Upload at 30%," Reza reported.
At SSS headquarters, alarms began to sound. The additional AI monitoring Ashton had ordered detected the anomaly.
"Shit," Elara said. "They're onto us. We need to speed this up."
"Can't speed it up without corrupting the code," Reza said. "We hold. Trust the plan."
In his office, Ashton stared at security alerts. "Database intrusion. Chen's terminal. Lock it down!"
But Elara had designed the virus too well. Even as SSS security tried to cut access, the upload continued. The virus was already replicating through the system.
"60%," Reza said.
Chen sent a message: "They're coming to my office. I'm out of time."
"Hold them off," Elara typed back. "Just two more minutes."
Chen stood from his terminal. Walked to his office door. Locked it.
"70%."
SSS security breached Chen's door.
"80%."
They grabbed him, pulled him away from the terminal, saw the virus upload happening.
"90%."
Ashton's voice over comms: "Shut it down! Shut everything down!"
But it was too late.
"100%. Virus is in."
The database corrupted. Every record randomized. Thousands of genetic profiles suddenly meaningless.
On every level of the station, biometric scanners began malfunctioning. Showing contradictory data. Unable to enforce caste restrictions.
The system had crashed.
In the vault, the team erupted in cheers.
Jax pulled Elara into a fierce hug. "We did it. We actually did it."
"We did it," she agreed.
But their celebration was cut short by Finn's voice:
"Guys. We have a problem."
They looked at the monitors. SSS tactical teams were mobilizing. Hundreds of agents. Armed. Moving toward the undercity.
Ashton's voice broadcast station-wide: "Attention all levels. Genetic database has been compromised by terrorists. All Gammas are ordered to remain in designated areas. Any movement between levels will be met with lethal force. Martial law is now in effect."
Jax's expression hardened. "He's going to try to enforce the system manually."
"Then we need to move fast," Elara said. "Get Gammas to upper levels before SSS can lock everything down. Flood the system with people they can't stop."
"That's war," Finn said.
"That's freedom," Mother Sera corrected, appearing in the doorway. "Sound the alarm. Tell everyone: now or never. Move or stay trapped forever."
Jax looked at his team. At Elara. At the beginning of everything they'd fought for.
"Sound the alarm," he ordered. "The revolution starts now."
The team scattered, each to their assigned task. Spreading the word. Organizing the exodus. Preparing for violence.
In the vault, Jax and Elara stood alone for one moment.
"No going back now," he said.
"No going back," she agreed.
They moved together toward the exit. Toward the chaos. Toward the revolution.
Toward freedom.
Or death.
Or both.
Book 2: END