Chapter 55 - Steel and Shattered Glass
The flash of the thermite charge was blinding, burning through the titanium locking bolts of the blast door at four thousand degrees in less than two seconds.
The heavy door buckled inward with a concussive blast. Before the smoke could clear, Daniel surged through the breach.
The four contractors in the clinic reacted with military speed, raising their weapons, but Daniel’s entry was pure, concentrated violence. His suppressed pistol fired in rapid, two-round cadences. *Pht-pht. Pht-pht.* The two guards closest to the door dropped instantly, their armor useless against the high-velocity armor-piercing rounds striking the unarmored triangle of their throats and faces.
The third guard dove behind a stainless-steel counter, opening fire with a burst from an MPX submachine gun. The rounds ricocheted violently off the reinforced doorframe, sparks raining over Daniel’s shoulders. Daniel closed the distance in three savage strides, vaulted the steel gurney, and drove his combat knife through the contractor’s shoulder, twisting the weapon out of the man’s hands before driving a knee into his sternum, throwing him limp against the tiled wall.
Dr. Weiss shrank back against the monitoring consoles, his hands trembling in the air, his eyes wide behind thick spectacles.
"Don't... don't touch him!" the doctor shrieked in terror. "The neurological wash is in progress! If you interrupt the serum infusion, his brain will suffer permanent synaptogenesis damage!"
Daniel didn't flinch. He leveled his gun at the doctor’s forehead, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Stop the machine."
"It requires the override cipher from Lord Julian! I can't shut it down from here!"
Daniel stepped up to the main infusion console, swept the heavy medical monitor off the table with his forearm, and fired three rounds directly into the CPU housing. The electric humming died instantly, the fluorescent displays popping with showers of blue sparks. The intravenous line connected to Mason’s small arm went slack.
Daniel spun toward the examination chair, dropping his weapon to the floor as he tore at the leather restraints binding his son’s wrists.
"Mason! Mason, look at me!" Daniel pleaded, his voice breaking, tears cutting clean lines through the soot and lake water on his cheeks.
The boy blinked slowly. His pupils were unnaturally dilated, black pools swallowing the green of his irises. He turned his head toward Daniel, his movements stiff, mechanical, like a broken puppet.
"Mason... baby, it’s Dad. I’m taking you home. It’s over."
The little boy stared at Daniel’s face. There was no recognition in those eyes. No spark of warmth. Just a terrible, flat emptiness that shattered Daniel’s heart more violently than any bullet ever could.
Mason parted his lips, his voice tiny, raspy, and monotone.
"You... you are not authorized," Mason whispered. "Uncle Julian said... father is dead. Father put the collar on me."
Daniel froze, a guttural groan of sheer agony tearing from his throat. They hadn't just drugged him—they had twisted his memories. They had convinced the child that Daniel was the monster who had locked him in the garden.
Behind them, the clinic intercom buzzed with the smooth, mocking voice of Julian Sterling.
May you like
"Exquisite timing, Daniel. But you are trying to rescue a boy who no longer exists."
***
