Chapter 135

A thunderous boom shook the early morning quiet. Orange flame shot into the dark sky as Substation 12 of the Phoenix Grid exploded. Pieces of metal and concrete flew in all directions. The night security guard, having stepped outside for a cigarette moments earlier, stared in shock from the parking lot.

Three blocks away, Rose watched from the passenger seat of a stolen van, her facit by the distant flames. A small smile played on her lips as smoke rose into the night sky. “Beautiful,” she whispered. "Just like I planned.”

Beside her, Herod gripped the steering wheel, his face tight. "Drive now, admire later," he said, shifting the van into gear." Security cameras might have caught us."

As they sped away, emergency sirens began to wail in the distance. Fire trucks and police cars raced toward the burning substation.

"Phase one complete," Rose said, her voice filled with satisfaction. "Now we wait for phase two, the system collapse."

Herod kept his eyes on the road, his mind racing through escape routes, contingency plans. There was no going back now. They had crossed the final line.

*** **

Camille jolted awake to the sound of her phone ringing. She fumbled for it in the darkness, Alexander stirring beside her.

"Camille Kane," she answered, voice still thick with sleep.

Her body tensed as she listened. "How bad?" she asked, already climbing out of bed. "How many injured?"

Alexander sat up, instantly alert at her tone.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," Camille said, ending the call. She turned to Alexander, her face pale in the dim

light. "Someone bombed Substation 12. No one hurt, but the Grid is destabilizing."

"Rose," Alexander said. It wasn't a question.

"Has to be." Camille pulled clothes from her closet with shaking hands. "Hannah's

already at control headquarters. The backup systems are holding for now, but if we don't reroute power soon, we could lose the whole eastern sector."

Alexander was already dressing. "I'll drive you."

They raced through the pre-dawn streets, the city still quiet

except for emergency vehicles heading toward the

smoke rising in the distance. Camille clutched her phone, watching real-

time alerts from the Grid's monitoring system.

"Junction 17 showing stress, she muttered. "Power loads increasing on the northern relay."

Her phone rang again. Hannah's voice came through, tight with panic.

"It's spreading faster than we predicted," she said without preamble. "The safety protocols are shutting down relays

to prevent overload, but that's pushing too much power to the remaining

stations."

"Can you bypass the safety protocols manually?" Camille asked.

"Too risky. We'd burn out the whole system. We need to redirect the power flow from the damaged substation."

"I'm almost there," Camille promised.

The Grid control center hummed with frantic activity when they arrived. Engineers rushed between workstations. Warning signals flashed on screens. Hannah stood in the center, issuing instructions, her usual "Camille!" Relief washed over Hannah's face. "The situation's getting worse."

moved immediately to the main control panel. Displays showed the Phoenix Grid as an interconnected web of light. One

12 and its connecting relays. Yellow warning indicators spread outward like

points throughout

it fail next?" she asked, eyes scanning the

could go. When one does,

Alexander studied the

shoulder. "Can you isolate

power to eight city blocks,"

eastern sector,"

On the main display, the connections to Substation 12 went dark. Warning lights across the board flashed as the Grid adjusted to the sudden change. "Power load

capacity. That's

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Chapter 135

Camille leaned

the keyboard. "Rerouting through the western sector backup. System

for Junction 24 shifted from

Hannah said,

cautioned. "But we've lost redundancy. If there's another

*

rang. He stepped away to answer, his expression growing darker as he

of explosives at the substation," he reported when he

fists clenched. "She's escalated. This isn't just

Alexander added. "They're calling it a terrorist attack on

felt sick. After all their work, all their success, Rose had managed to cast a shadow over the Grid's triumph. If public confidence

called out.

the main display. Junction

point for the northern sector-flashed

be surging," Camille said, rushing back to

with the

down!"

responding!"

"It's a secondary attack. They're

felt cold dread spread through

cyber attack to follow,

it overloads and takes down the northern sector."

said. "The junction box is

"I know." Camille grabbed

"Alexander, stay here and coordinate with Hannah. I'm going to

“It could

if we lose the northern sector, hospitals will lose

long moment, then

toward the door. "Send them after me. And

f you get control back, shut down

The drive

kept

at one hundred ten percent capacity," Hannah reported. "Safety systems failing. We're losing control

early morning traffic. "Hold it together. I'm almost

facility loomed ahead, a concrete building surrounded

Camille screeched to a halt at the gate, swiping her security card. The gate slid open

one hundred fifteen percent," Hannah's voice crackled through the phone. "Camille,

entrance. Inside, red emergency lights bathed the corridor in an eerie glow. The hum

louder as she approached the

disconnect?" she

blue panel. You'll need your override

pushed through the door into the control

high numbers. She spotted the blue panel and ran toward it.

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