Debt of Souls

Chapter 5

The floor beneath them vibrated. Panels retracted, revealing whirring turrets that rose like metal serpents. Laser sights snapped to life, crisscrossing the room.

“Cover!” Charlie shouted, diving behind a row of deposit boxes as a hail of bullets chewed into the marble floor.

Lucas flattened himself against another row. “Turrets? Seriously?”

The Game’s voice whispered: Hint: Opponent proximity may trigger friendly fire. Use wisely.

Charlie grinned grimly. He peeked out and fired at a turret, his bullet ricocheted harmlessly. “We can’t take those out head-on.”

Kessler stepped through the door, calm even as bullets flew. He timed his movements perfectly, weaving through the kill zone like a dancer. 

The turrets ignored him at first, then hesitated, tracking both men. “Stay low,” Charlie muttered to Lucas.

Lucas risked a glance at the pedestal. “We need that asset code, but the shield’s not dropping unless someone disables the mainframe.”

“Where?”

Lucas pointed toward a raised control booth on the far wall. “There.”

Kessler fired a warning shot that pinged off a deposit box near Charlie’s head. “Thinking of making a run for it? Be my guest.”

The turrets swiveled unpredictably, scanning for targets. Charlie inhaled deeply. “Lucas, on my mark, create a distraction.” 

Lucas’s voice shook. “Define distraction.”

“Make Kessler move.”

Charlie slid out, firing two quick shots, not at Kessler, but at a turret base near him. The turret swung, sensors recalibrating. Suddenly it lit up Kessler with a red targeting beam.

Kessler cursed and dove for cover as the turret unleashed a stream of bullets, forcing him to roll behind the pedestal. “Now!” Charlie shouted.

Lucas bolted toward the booth, ducking low as bullets tore up the floor behind him. Charlie laid down covering fire, but Kessler quickly recovered, sending a volley of shots back.

One bullet grazed Charlie’s shoulder, he bit back a cry, his vision flaring white. He dove behind another row of boxes, breathing hard.

Lucas reached the booth and slammed the panel open, wires and circuits exposed. Sparks flared as he jammed his hacking tool into the system.

The turrets began to swivel erratically. One blasted a support pillar, sending chunks of marble crashing down. “Almost there!” Lucas yelled over the gunfire.

Charlie peeked out just in time to see Kessler making a run for the pedestal, his pistol blazing. The timer glowed: 09:45

“Lucas, hurry!” Charlie shouted.

The turrets turned their sights on Kessler, then Charlie. For one breathless moment, the room became a storm of bullets and ricochets.

Bullets shrieked through the vault room, sparks and shards of marble raining like shrapnel. Charlie’s ears rang, his heartbeat drumming louder than the gunfire.

Kessler zigzagged toward Section C, using debris as cover. Charlie fired, forcing him to roll behind the pedestal.

Lucas’s panicked voice crackled over the din. “Almost there, thirty percent override!”

“Not fast enough!” Charlie ducked as a turret blast scorched the deposit boxes above his head. The heat singed his hair.

Kessler’s taunt floated over the chaos: “Still too slow, Charlie!”

Charlie grit his teeth. He scanned the room, the turrets’ movement had grown erratic, sensors flickering between targets. 

One turret’s barrel swiveled toward Kessler’s flank. Charlie grinned grimly and deliberately fired near Kessler, drawing attention. The turret locked onto Kessler and unleashed a barrage.

Kessler swore and dove for cover, a round grazing his arm. The timer ticked down: 07:03

Lucas shouted, “Override at sixty percent!” Sparks flew from the booth as his tool smoked. “This thing wasn’t built for speed hacking!”

“Then push it past its limits!” Charlie barked.

He sprang from cover, sprinting across open ground. Bullets chewed into the floor behind him. He slid behind another pillar, heart hammering.

Kessler reappeared, gun trained on him. “Always reckless.” He fired.

The shot clipped Charlie’s side, tearing through his jacket. Pain seared, but Charlie spun and returned fire. 

Their bullets collided with marble and metal, each ricochet a reminder of how thin the line between victory and death was. “Charlie!” Lucas yelled. “Ninety percent!”

Charlie risked a glance. Kessler was crouched, reloading. Charlie took the opening, he dashed toward the pedestal. 

The turrets hesitated, then all at once locked onto him. Red beams crisscrossed his chest. “Lucas!” Charlie shouted.

“Done!” Lucas slammed the enter key. The lights flickered, the turrets froze, then retracted into the floor with mechanical groans.

The blue shield around Section C dissolved. Charlie staggered up to the pedestal. Inside the glass case rested a black briefcase embossed with a golden crest, the emblem of a banking family known to fund governments. 

He reached for it, a gun cocked. “Step away,” Kessler said, voice like ice. He stood ten feet away, bleeding but steady, pistol leveled.

Charlie froze. “You’re predictable,” Kessler continued. “Even when you win, you hesitate.”

“You taught me never to trust anyone,” Charlie replied, his voice hard.

“I did. And you’re about to learn why.”

A faint shimmer in the air caught Charlie’s eye, a new holographic prompt above the pedestal: Hidden Condition: The asset is booby-trapped. Removal triggers a failsafe unless two keys are used.

Lucas climbed down from the booth, breathing hard. “Two keys? What keys?”

Kessler smirked and reached into his coat, producing a small metallic card that glowed faintly blue. “One key,” he said. “I suppose you have the other?”

Charlie blinked, confused, then felt something in his pocket vibrate. He pulled out a silver token, the same token the Game had awarded after the billboard fight.

“That’s it,” Kessler said. “Together, we open it. Alone, we die.”

The timer pulsed ominously: 02:45

Lucas whispered, “Charlie, he’ll kill you after.”

Charlie’s jaw tightened. He extended the token but didn’t step closer. “On three.”

“One,” Kessler said, stepping forward.

“Two,” Charlie replied, matching his pace.

They inserted the keys simultaneously. The pedestal hissed, then the floor trembled violently. 

A hidden mechanism whirred, and the Game’s voice echoed: Integrity check failed. Unauthorized interference detected. Initiating purge protocol.

Kessler’s smirk faltered. “What did you do?”

The vault walls split open, revealing rows of hidden compartments. From within, mechanical arms armed with bladed attachments unfolded like spiders. Lucas’s face went pale. “That’s not a purge, that’s an execution.”

The arms snapped forward, slicing through metal and marble. The ceiling groaned as cracks splintered outward. Kessler cursed. “We’re all dead if we stay!”

The Game’s voice boomed: Countdown: 01:00, Purge Commencing.

Charlie grabbed the briefcase, ignoring the warning prompt. The room shuddered as the first arm tore through a support beam. Lucas screamed over the chaos, “Charlie, the ceiling!”

The roof above them gave a deafening crack. Concrete and steel began to collapse, a massive slab breaking free and plummeting toward Charlie and Kessler.