Chapter 79: The Iron Cage

 

Deepwater 9. The High-Security Lab. 4:00 PM.

Sebastian hung suspended in the air. Magnetic clamps held his arms and legs spread-eagled. He was still inside the Ratnik-3 Exoskeleton, but the suit was dead. The 300-pound metal frame, designed to make him a god, was now a coffin crushing his chest. Every breath was a struggle.

The Warden stood in front of him, adjusting a complex laser scalpel. "The beauty of this armor," The Warden murmured, tapping the chest plate, "is that it kept you alive long enough for the serum to rewrite your DNA. But now... it's just packaging."

"You talk too much," Sebastian wheezed. Sweat stung his eyes. "Just kill me."

"Kill you?" The Warden laughed softly. "Mr. Sterling, you are the most valuable hard drive in the world. I need to extract the God Protocol from your marrow before I dispose of the husk."

He turned to a massive screen on the wall. It showed a map of the world. Red dots were blinking over major cities: New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai. "In five hours, the missile silos on this rig will open." "We aren't launching nukes. We are launching Helios-B canisters into the jet stream." "A global pandemic. Airborne. 100% infection rate."

"And you sell the cure," Sebastian guessed, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Subscription model," The Warden corrected. "A monthly f*e for life. If you pay, you get the inhibitor. If you don't... your cells liquefy." "The ultimate monopoly."

---

[The Rat in the Walls]

Ventilation Shaft B.

Jack crawled on his belly. It was tight, dark, and smelled of ozone. He wasn't a tech genius. He wasn't a super soldier. He was a trapper. And a trap was just a machine with a trigger.

He reached a grate looking down into the Generator Room. Massive turbines hummed below. Droids patrolled the catwalks.

Jack pulled a stick of dynamite from his parka (he always carried dynamite for clearing ice jams). He looked at the fuse. "City boys and their toys," Jack grunted. He lit the fuse with his cigar. He dropped it through the grate.

---

[The Truth]

Detention Cell 002.

Harper sat on the floor, holding her mother’s hand. Catherine was lucid again, but weak. "I built it, Harper," Catherine wept. "Arthur forced me. He said he would kill you if I didn't finish the dispersal system." "I put a flaw in it. A thermal exhaust port. But they fixed it."

"We can stop them," Harper said firmly. "Sebastian will stop them."

"He can't," Catherine looked at the camera in the corner. "The Warden... he isn't human, Harper. He is Subject One." "The first successful integration. He doesn't need a suit. The metal is inside his skin."

Harper went cold. So that's why the EMP didn't stop him. He was a cyborg.

---

[The Jumpstart]

The Lab.

The Warden approached Sebastian with a high-voltage neural probe. "This will hurt," The Warden smiled perfectly. "I need to stimulate your nervous system to map the code."

He jammed the probe into the port at the base of Sebastian’s skull. ZAP.

Sebastian screamed. White-hot agony tore through his spine. His vision went white. [ WARNING: EXTERNAL SURGE DETECTED. ] The dead HUD inside his helmet flickered.

Sebastian saw it. A spark. The Warden was feeding electricity into his system. If he could channel it...

"Is that all you got?" Sebastian gasped, blood trickling from his nose. "My father hit harder than that."

The Warden frowned. He turned the dial up. "Let's see." ZAAAAP.

[ BATTERY: 1%... 2%... 5% ] The suit’s capacitor began to absorb the excess voltage.

"More!" Sebastian roared, his golden eyes glowing. "Do it again!"

The Warden paused. He sensed something was wrong. "You are enjoying this?"

BOOM. Suddenly, the floor shook. Jack’s dynamite exploded in the generator room. The lights died. The magnetic clamps holding Sebastian flickered and released.

CLANG. Sebastian dropped to the floor. The rig went into EMERGENCY POWER. Red rotating lights bathed the room in blood.

The Warden spun around. "What—"

He looked back at Sebastian. The Ratnik-3 suit was no longer dark. The red LEDs on the chest plate ignited. The servos hissed to life. [ SYSTEM REBOOTED. ] [ POWER LEVEL: 15% (EMERGENCY RESERVE). ] [ COMBAT MODE: ENGAGED. ]

Sebastian stood up. He towered over the Warden. Steam vented from his armor’s joints. "Thank you for the jumpstart," Sebastian’s voice boomed, distorted and demonic.

He raised his hydraulic fist. "Now, let's talk about that subscription model."

---

[The Breakout]

The Warden snarled. His perfect face split open—literally. The skin peeled back to reveal a metallic skull underneath. He wasn't wearing a suit. He was the suit. "Kill him!" The Warden ordered the droids.

Three combat droids charged. Sebastian didn't dodge. He caught the first droid by the head and crushed it. CRUNCH. He ripped the arm off the second droid and used it to impale the third.

"Jack! Harper!" Sebastian yelled into the comms. "The power is out! Get to the Hangar!"

He turned to the Warden. "I'll handle the tin man."

The Warden extended blades from his forearms. "You are obsolete, Sterling."

Sebastian cracked his neck. "I'm vintage."

He charged. Metal clashed against metal. The sound was deafening. The Warden was fast, but Sebastian was heavy. They crashed through the lab wall, tumbling into the corridor, trading blows that would shatter concrete.

(End of Chapter 79)