Semua Bab Vengeance Algorithm: Bab 11 - Bab 20

A dead silence fell after Celia’s demand. Reid couldn’t tear his eyes from the smartphone screen, where Zain’s battered, swollen face stared back at him—pure animal terror magnified by the shards of his glasses. Reid’s blood froze.Bricks’s huge hand on his shoulder wasn’t comfort; it was the executioner’s weight. Celia’s remote presence—icy expectation emanating from her—seemed to fill the space around Reid and Alessandra. Alessandra sat rigid beside him; her hand, which had been warm on Reid’s, was now a white-knuckled fist at her side. Her flush had disappeared, replaced by a pallor that mirrored Zain’s terror.“Your recommendation, Mr. Brecken—in real time.” Celia’s words hung like a noose tightening.Reid could feel the biomodulators kicking under his skin, a quiet reminder that the alien hardware he was still becoming accustomed to could one day end his life.Max’s voice modulator engaged with a click as he parted his lips; the synthetic speech was flat and devoid of the conflic

Reid left the utility vehicle behind a broken wall and approached on foot. The night wind swept through the wreckage in a ghostly wail.The journal entries had noted only the coordinates and a time—now.Briefly, he surveyed the site. It was a relic of its former self. Broken domes and rusty metal frameworks lay exposed beneath a star-studded sky.A lone figure emerged from the shadows near the base of an abandoned telescope mount. Reid’s senses snapped to high alert.It was the last person he expected: Chloe Vaughn.She looked startlingly different from the portrait the society pages had painted in his mind. They’d lied.He watched as she picked her way through the ruins and clutter, wearing no tailored gowns or flawless makeup—just a dark, casual dress and an overcoat, her hair tied into a plain ponytail.This was the real Chloe, the woman with whom he had shared three years of his best life. He thought they had it all until, out of the blue, a brutal betrayal struck—one he never saw

The video was surveillance footage dated three years earlier from West’s own office. In it, West sat behind his desk—cold and efficient—while Chloe and Marcus Vaughn faced him, their terror masked by forced compliance.West’s voice cut through. “The Brecken asset is ready for takeover, and the legal framework is finalized. We execute the next phase tomorrow. You will make sure his public disgrace is absolute.”West: “I need his technical expertise elsewhere.”Marcus: “And… we get our compensation? Control of CipherCore?”West: “Let’s call it temporary stewardship, Mr. Vaughn. The technology has strategic value. You will be granted operational control under consortium supervision. Disappoint me, and your fall will make Brecken’s look like a stumble.”West: “No harm will come to Brecken as long as you play your role, Chloe. He trusts you, so get him to sign the required documents.”Chloe nodded submissively, her frown tight and starved. “Understood.”As Reid watched, a cold, hard knot o

The sweet, sickly smell of the neurotoxin flooded Reid’s nostrils, igniting a flash of primal panic.Reid pictured Zain’s neat lab and heard his frantic whisper: “Neuro-inhibitor—it’s fast-acting.”The solid security doors sealing him inside the server room were an impregnable barrier, their smooth surface mocking his hacking skills.13:45 glowed on the failsafe timer.Somewhere beyond the servers, Max was being taken away, Alessandra was fighting for her life in the lobby, and Reid was dying in a room of humming machines.His vision blurred at the edges.The Clean Slate protocol felt less like a plan and more like a death sentence.Sentiment is extinction. Max’s words in the journal echoed in his mind—twisted now into a new reality: “Defiance is survival.”He swept his gaze past the sealed door and futile control panel in a desperate search.On the wall, a heavy fire axe locked behind a glass case caught his attention.It wasn’t a key but a weapon. Against the door? Impossible. Perha

With a chilling, sneering fury, Max remained still. His eyes glistened like two ice holes devoid of relief and love. They were fixed on Alessandra.“Traitor!” he spat, his voice hoarse but venomous. “Consorting with the impostor!”Then, with surprising speed, he sprang—not towards Alessandra, but Bricks’ idling powerbike.Bricks, momentarily occupied by Alessandra’s fire, turned just as Max shoved him aside with desperate strength.He seized the powerbike’s controls as he mounted.“Clean Slate starts with you, impostor!” Max screamed, his voice cracking with hysteria.He gunned the throttle; the powerbike shooting forward straight toward Reid’s cover.Reid had only a split second to hurl himself sideways before the bike slammed into the concrete pillar with bone-rattling force.Max was thrown clear like a rag doll. He landed on the concrete floor with a sickening