Blood and Betrayal
The system didn't recognize the intrusion; it saw it as a minor atmospheric interference.
The knot was tied.
I surfaced under the pier, gasping for air, my skin a mottled blue. Toby was there in an instant, his strong hands grabbing my vest and hauling me onto the slick wooden planks. He wrapped me in a thermal blanket, his face looked worried.
"Did you do it?"
"The flaw is in the foundation," I managed to say through chattering teeth. "The moment the load hits seventy percent, the cooling system will start a feedback loop. The more power they feed it, the faster it will fail."