Chapter 23: The Relay
Chloe scrambled up the steep, rocky incline, her boots slipping on the icy shale. She reached the base of the tower. A small, fortified cinderblock maintenance shed sat at the bottom. She kicked the rusted door open and found the primary terminal—a bank of dusty servers Elias had jury-rigged into the tower's main power supply.
Her hands shook as she opened the laptop and connected a heavy ethernet cable from the server rack to the computer. She initiated the program Elias had left open on the desktop. A progress bar appeared on the screen: Establishing Secure Uplink...
Outside, the sound of approaching voices carried on the wind.
"She's in the shed! Surround the perimeter!"
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Chloe barricaded the heavy steel door with a metal desk. She grabbed the shotgun Elias had given her from the duffel bag, her small hands trembling as she racked a shell into the chamber, just like her mother had done.
Connecting to global nodes... 10%...
