The moment Alicia's palm pressed against the scanner, a high-pitched hum vibrated through the laboratory floor, shaking the very foundations of the mountain. The blinding white light didn't just stay within the crystal; it surged through the underground cables, lighting up every monitor in the room with a single word: UPLOAD COMPLETE.
"It's out," Alicia whispered, her breath hitching. "The blueprints, the energy signatures... they're on every open-source server in the world."
"You just broke the world's monopoly on power, Alicia," Arthur said, his eyes reflecting the fading white glow. But he didn't have time to celebrate. The elevator's overhead display chirped—the Onyx Group soldiers had reached their level.
CLANG.
The heavy steel doors of the elevator began to buckle under the pressure of a hydraulic ram.
"The back exit, through the ventilation tunnels!" Arthur grabbed Alicia's hand, pulling her toward a small, reinforced hatch near the primary cooling bank. "My mother told me there was an emergency escape that leads to the lower ravine."
They scrambled into the dark, narrow tunnel just as the laboratory doors exploded behind them. The sound of tactical boots and shouted commands filled the space they had just occupied.
"Find the girl! Secure the terminal!" a gravelly voice roared.
Alicia and Arthur crawled through the cold steel pipe, the sound of their own frantic breathing echoing in the confined space. After what felt like an eternity, they reached a rusted iron grate that opened into the fresh, freezing mountain air.
They tumbled out onto a rocky ledge, hidden by a waterfall that cascaded down into the valley below. Far above them, the black helicopters of the Onyx Group were circling the peak like vultures, but the sun was starting to rise, and with it, the news was spreading.
Arthur pulled out his encrypted phone. The headlines were already changing. "Mysterious Leak Disrupts Global Energy Markets." "Everglow: The Free Energy Blueprint."
"They can't take it back now," Arthur said, a grim but triumphant smile on his face. "Even if they catch us, the secret belongs to everyone."
Alicia looked at the rising sun, the gold light hitting the water. For the first time, she didn't feel like the daughter of a tragedy. She felt like the architect of a revolution.
"We're not done yet, Arthur," she said, looking back at the mountain. "Henry is in jail, but Onyx will be coming for us with everything they have. We need to get to Léo. We need to disappear."
"I know a place," Arthur replied, his grip on her hand tightening. "A place where the Carters and the Onyx Group don't exist. But we have to move fast."