The command center fell into a suffocating silence, broken only by the rhythmic beep... beep... of the timer relayed from Tae-Hyun's helmet mic. Time Left: 04:10.
Minji ignored the tactical screens, which now seemed useless. All that mattered was the internal layout Tae-Hyun had memorized and the rapidly decreasing number. She began mapping out the final fifty meters of the bunker in her head, calculating the team's velocity against the friction of the floor and the resistance of their stealth gear.
"Jungkook," Minji's voice was tight, focused on the mathematics of survival. "Tae-Hyun and his team must move as one unit. If one operative slows, the whole insertion fails. They need maximum acceleration now, before the hallways get congested."
"Tae-Hyun, you heard the strategist," Jungkook barked into the mic, his composure iron-clad despite the sweat beading on his forehead. "Execute a level-five dash. Move like the devil himself is chasing your shadow!"
"Understood, CEO. We are past the first checkpoint. Time Left: 03:45. We're encountering tripwires—disengaging the lead operative to handle them while the others maintain pace."
A muffled curse came through the comms. Tae-Hyun's team was fighting against the bunker's physical defenses while simultaneously racing the countdown.
Jungkook slammed his hand onto the console, his anger a cold flame. "Tripwires! They designed this to stall, not to stop! Minji, the two-second lag—is that accounting for system boot-up time or just the capacitor discharge?"
"The discharge!" Minji corrected instantly, her eyes wide with realization. "The syndicate would want the data wiped instantly after zero. But for incineration, the magnetics need full power. We need to focus on the upload, not the destruction. Tae-Hyun, tell your tech specialist to prepare the drive now! The moment the vault opens, the drive goes in, regardless of security!"
"We are at the final blast door. Time Left: 02:00. Standard thermite charge initiating... God, this thing is thicker than we anticipated! The door is rated for a direct tank hit!"
The timer's sound intensified, becoming a frantic drumbeat of impending disaster.
Jungkook leaned over the console, his voice a low, urgent growl. "Tae-Hyun, override the thermite timer! Max power! We need to breach that door in the next twenty seconds, or the run to the vault becomes impossible!"
A deafening BOOM rattled the mobile command center, even two miles away. Smoke alarms, real and digital, screamed on the tactical map.
"Breach successful! We are inside the main server room! The vault is thirty meters ahead! Mercenaries are closing in on our six o'clock position! They heard the blast! Time Left: 01:15."
The unscripted zone had delivered its twist: not just a technological hurdle, but a physical confrontation.
Minji saw the map: Tae-Hyun's team was now exposed. Their stealth was broken. She grabbed the mic. "Tae-Hyun! Forget the enemies behind you! Run! Your primary objective is the vault! The evidence is worth more than a firefight! Run to zero!"
"Affirmative! 00:45! We are at the vault! Tech specialist preparing the injection! 00:30!"
The next twenty seconds were a blur of ragged breathing and the horrifying clarity of the timer. 00:10. 00:09. 00:08.
Jungkook was standing now, his knuckles white against the desk. He didn't speak; he couldn't.
"00:04! Drive in! Initiating upload! 00:03!"
Minji's breath caught in her throat. She closed her eyes, visualizing the kinetic pulse charging.
"00:02!"
"00:01!"
"ZERO!"
A high-pitched, electric whine suddenly flooded the comms. The sound was deafening, the charging pulse reaching maximum capacity.
A heartbeat of silence. Another heartbeat.
"It's in! The worm is active! Pulling data now!" Tae-Hyun's voice, though strained, was filled with a triumphant roar that cut through the whine.
Minji sagged into her chair, realizing her desperate hypothesis had been correct. They had bought the two seconds of charge time.
"The pulse... it didn't fire immediately?" Jungkook whispered, his voice shaking slightly for the first time.
"Not instantly," Minji confirmed, her eyes still on the screen showing the evidence file size rapidly increasing. "In the unscripted zone, even the laws of physics are on our side... for now."
The file transfer continued, but the crisis was far from over. Tae-Hyun's team was now deep inside a hostile bunker, surrounded by mercenaries, and carrying the only copy of the truth.