Hex POV
The warehouse felt emptier already.
I could hear footsteps running toward the exits.
Section E escaping.
Jay's plan working.
But someone was still here.
I looked up from the console.
Across the warehouse floor…
Kaiser stood up slowly from the fight.
Keifer had knocked him down hard.
But Kaiser was still smiling.
Kaiser Watson
"You stayed," he said.
I shrugged.
"Someone had to finish the puzzle."
The timer glowed above us.
00:15
Jay grabbed my arm.
"Come on."
"Not yet."
I inserted the override key into the console.
The system beeped.
Shutdown sequence ready
Jay realized what that meant.
"Hex."
"12 seconds," I said quietly.
"You need to go."
Her expression hardened.
"No."
"If you stay," I said, "everyone dies."
The timer dropped again.
00:09
Outside the warehouse Felix yelled:
"JAY!"
Jay looked at the door.
Then back at me.
I gave her a tired grin.
"You trust me, right?"
She hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then she ran.
The door slammed behind her.
Now the warehouse was silent.
Just me.
And Kaiser.
He slowly walked toward the console.
"You're sacrificing yourself for them."
I leaned against the console, breathing hard.
"Someone had to babysit your fireworks."
His smile barely changed.
The timer dropped.
00:06
Outside the warehouse I could hear them
Jay.
Keifer.
Felix.
They were out.
Good.
That meant the plan worked.
Kaiser stepped a little closer.
"You realize you won't make it out."
I glanced toward the far side of the warehouse.
There.
A door.
The one I noticed earlier.
Maybe twenty meters away.
Maybe my only chance.
The timer blinked again.
00:04
Kaiser raised the detonator slightly.
"Goodbye, Night byte ."
I didn't answer.
Instead I kicked the rolling chair beside the console straight at him.
The chair slammed into his legs.
Just enough to slow him down.
I ran.
The maintenance door burst open as I crashed through it.
Cold air hit my face immediately.
Behind the building the harbor stretched out into darkness, black water moving slowly under the docks.
The timer inside the warehouse flashed again through the open doorway.
00:02
No time.
I sprinted toward the edge of the dock.
The water was maybe ten meters below.
Not ideal.
But better than standing next to explosives.
Behind me Kaiser's voice echoed one last time.
"You're too late!"
I smiled.
"You talk too much."
I reached the edge of the dock.
Jumped.
For a split second I was suspended over the water.
Then the warehouse exploded.
A massive blast ripped through the building.
Fire and metal burst outward.
The shockwave hit me mid-air.
Everything turned white.
The force slammed me downward.
Then—
SPLASH
Freezing water swallowed me whole.
The harbor closed above my head as the burning warehouse collapsed behind me.