All Chapters of The Outcast Genius: Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
33 chapters
CHAPTER 20 — THE EXIT PROTOCOL
The hallway outside the containment room buzzed with fluorescent lights and low, mechanical hums. Cold. Industrial. A labyrinth of steel doors and encrypted panels.Liam walked ahead of Ivy and Elias, shoulders stiff, muscles coiled tight. Every step carried an edge anger sharpening him, betrayal fueling him.Elias tapped a code into a sealed door. “We move quickly. Once the internal sensors recognize Liam’s biometrics, certain teams will be notified.”Liam didn’t slow. “Which teams?”“The wrong ones,” Elias said. “We have eight minutes before they’re on us.”Ivy hurried to keep up. “Liam, stay between us. If they’re tracking your heat signature”“Let them track me,” Liam said coldly. “I’m done hiding.”Ivy swallowed. “You don’t understand. They want you alive.”Liam finally turned his head, expression razor-sharp. “Why?”Elias answered for her. “Because you’re the only one who can stabilize the prototype.”Liam froze mid-step. He turned fully now, eyes drilling into both of them. “Wh
CHAPTER 21 — WING C
The ladder shuddered under Liam’s weight as he climbed. Metal rungs bit into his palms. Above him, emergency lights pulsed red through a narrow grill.Ivy climbed behind him. Elias took the rear. No one spoke. The alarms soared higher. Liam pushed the hatch open and rolled onto the cold tile floor of Wing C.White corridor. Frosted glass walls. Rows of secured labs humming with restrained power. Elias whispered, “This wing is biometric-restricted.”Liam already knew. “Avery bypassed it before.”Ivy whispered sharply, “You’re still assuming”The sound of footsteps echoed from the far end of the hall. Running. Multiple. Liam grabbed Ivy, yanking her into a recessed doorway as three armed guards sprinted past. Elias exhaled slowly. “They’re sweeping.”Liam’s eyes lifted to the lab markings. C-17… C-18… C-19His chest tightened. He pointed to the glass door at the far end. “That’s her department.”Ivy grabbed his sleeve. “Liam, listen to me. Whatever you think you saw in those logs”“Stop
CHAPTER 22 — BLEEDING POINT
The first thing Liam felt was pain. Not sharp everywhere. A crushing, suffocating pressure that wrapped his ribs and crawled up his spine like fire. “Don’t move, don’t you dare move.”Avery’s voice. Close. Broken. Liam tried to open his eyes. Failed. “Stay with me,” she begged. “Please. Please.”Someone else said, “He’s lost a lot of blood.”Elias. Another voice female, clipped, professional. “Get the pressure higher. If that blade nicked the lung”“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Avery sobbed. “I swear I didn’t.”Liam forced air into his lungs. It burned. “Liam?” Ivy’s voice trembled. “Can you hear me?”He managed a sound. Something between a groan and a breath. “Yes,” the medic said. “He’s conscious. Barely.”Avery’s hands were shaking against his chest. “I’m here. I’m right here.”Liam’s lips moved. No sound came out. “Don’t talk,” Ivy snapped sharply. “Save your strength.”Liam didn’t listen. “You… chose…” he rasped.Avery flinched like he’d struck her. “I was trying to save yo
CHAPTER 23 — POINT OF NO RETURN
The jet’s cabin lights dimmed as the aircraft leveled off over the Atlantic. Liam sat strapped into a medical seat, chest wrapped, IV secured to his arm.His laptop glowed on the tray table in front of him finally retrieved, finally his again. Ivy paced the narrow aisle. “Vitals?”Elias glanced at the monitor. “Stable. For now.”Avery sat opposite Liam, hands clenched together, eyes fixed on the floor. She hadn’t spoken since takeoff. Liam broke the silence. “São Paulo.”Elias nodded. “The test site was a private biotech subsidiary front company. Within forty minutes, the lattice destabilized.”Avery looked up sharply. “Destabilized how?”Liam’s fingers moved across the keyboard. “Cellular acceleration beyond safe thresholds. Tissue regeneration turned malignant.”Ivy swallowed. “Casualties?”Elias hesitated. “Officially, a chemical leak. Unofficially… twelve dead.”Avery pressed a hand to her mouth.Liam didn’t stop typing. “That’s Phase One.”A cold silence followed. Ivy snapped, “Y
CHAPTER 24 — THE CHOICE THAT BURNS
The jet lurched hard to the left. Overhead compartments rattled. The cabin lights flickered once, twice then steadied. The captain’s voice came sharp over the intercom. “Brace. We’re being forced off course.”Ivy grabbed the seat in front of her. “They’re herding us.”Elias was already on his feet, shouting into his comm. “I need confirmation, are we locked?”Static. Then a voice. “Affirmative. Targeted EMP threat detected. We have minutes.”Avery stumbled as the plane dipped again. “Liam”“I know,” Liam said quietly.Outside the window, the black aircraft slid closer, unnaturally sleek, no markings. Its undercarriage opened like a mouth. Elias swore. “They’re going to disable us.”Liam looked back to the laptop. The warning still pulsed. CONFIRM FAILSAFE ACTIVATION?Ivy saw it. Her breath caught. “If you do it now”“They won’t need me anymore,” Liam said. “And neither will the lattice.”Avery rushed to him, gripping his shoulders. “You can’t just erase yourself!”He met her eyes. No
CHAPTER 25 — AFTERMATH
The jet touched down just before dawn. No applause. No relief. Only silence heavy and unfinished. Liam sat by the window, wrapped in a blanket someone had given him.He watched the runway lights streak past with mild curiosity, like a passenger arriving somewhere for the first time. Avery hadn’t let go of his hand since the moment he forgot her.Ivy stood a few feet away, arms folded tight, eyes red but dry. Elias spoke quietly with security near the cockpit, already arranging disappearances, cover stories, erasures.The door opened. Cool morning air flooded the cabin. “We’re clear,” Elias said. “No tails. No trackers.”Avery whispered, “He can’t go to a hospital.”“I know,” Elias said. “We have a safe location.”Liam looked up. “Am I in trouble?”The question cut through them. Avery forced a smile that broke halfway. “No. You’re safe.”He studied her face, searching. “Do I know you?”Her breath hitched. “Yes.”He nodded, accepting it without resistance. “Okay.”That hurt more than an
CHAPTER 26 — THE ECHO
The tablet vibrated again. Once. Then stopped. Avery noticed it this time. She glanced at the dark screen, then at Liam, who was staring out the window like the city beyond the glass was an equation he almost understood.“Did you hear that?” she asked softly.Liam shook his head. “No.”She stood, heart suddenly racing, and crossed the room. The tablet sat on the counter where Elias had left it screen dark, unassuming. Too unassuming. She tapped it.The screen lit up. A single line of text pulsed slowly: SYNC ATTEMPT DETECTED SOURCE UNKNOWN.Her blood went cold. “Avery?” Ivy’s voice came from the hallway. “Everything okay?”Avery swallowed. “No.”She picked up the tablet and backed toward Liam. “Ivy,” she called louder, “we have a problem.”Ivy rushed in, followed by Elias. Elias took one look at the screen and went rigid. “That shouldn’t be possible.”Liam turned, alert now. “What shouldn’t be possible?”Ivy’s voice dropped. “The lattice.”Liam frowned. “You said it was gone.”“It wa
CHAPTER 27 — THE MAN YOU ERASED
“No.”The word left Avery’s mouth before anyone else could speak. Dr. Marcus Hale didn’t react. He didn’t flinch at Ivy’s raised gun or Elias’s rigid posture.His attention remained fixed on Liam, as if the rest of them were background noise. “Step back,” Ivy ordered. “Slowly.”Hale lifted both hands, palms open. “I’m unarmed.”“That doesn’t make you harmless,” Ivy snapped.Hale smiled faintly. “It never does.”Liam’s head throbbed. The room felt tighter, the air heavier, like gravity itself had shifted toward the man standing in the doorway. “You said,” Liam began, voice strained, “you helped me build something.”Hale nodded. “Yes.”Elias cut in sharply. “That’s impossible. Liam built the lattice alone.”Hale finally glanced at him. “That’s the story he chose to remember.”Avery stepped closer to Liam, grounding him. “You’re lying.”Hale looked at her kindly. That made it worse. “I wish I were,” he said. “But your faith in him is… selective.”Liam squeezed his eyes shut. Fragments pr
CHAPTER 28 — SUPPRESSION
The silence after Hale’s removal felt artificial. Like the world was holding its breath. Liam sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, fingers laced so tightly his knuckles ached.Avery hovered nearby, unsure whether to touch him or give him space. Ivy paced. Elias stared at the dark tablet as if it might blink back to life out of spite.“I can shut it down,” Elias said finally. “Not permanently. But enough to buy time.”Liam didn’t look up. “You mean suppress it.”“Yes.”Avery’s voice was cautious. “What does that do to him?”Elias hesitated. “It’ll sever active resonance. Block the echo from reaching higher cognition.”Ivy snorted. “In plain language?”“He’ll feel… less,” Elias said. “Duller. Slower.”Liam lifted his head. “And safer.”Elias nodded. “For now.”Avery stepped closer. “Liam, you don’t have to decide this second.”“I do,” he said quietly. “Because if I don’t, it will.”As if summoned, a faint pressure bloomed behind his eyes. Not pain. Invitation. Ivy noticed hi
CHAPTER 29 — THE WOMAN AT THE DOOR
The door slid open. Not all the way just enough to reveal Ava. She stood alone in the corridor, hands visible, posture calm.No weapons. No armor. Just a long black coat and eyes that locked onto Liam the instant the door cracked. He felt it again. Not pressure. Gravity. “Liam,” she said softly.Avery’s grip tightened on his arm. “Don’t answer.”“I’m not here to hurt you,” Ava continued. “And before anyone says it yes, I know how suspicious that sounds.”Ivy didn’t lower her gun. “You’ve got ten seconds to explain how you found us.”Ava didn’t look at her. “You changed the routing twice, Elias.”Elias stiffened. “That information isn’t public.”“No,” Ava agreed. “But it used to be mine.”Liam’s brow furrowed. “Used to be?”Ava’s gaze flickered back to him. “We worked together. Long before the lattice.”Avery’s stomach dropped. “You told me she was a lawyer.”“I was,” Ava said calmly. “Among other things.”Ivy barked a laugh. “Of course you were.”Ava finally glanced at Ivy. “If I want