Chapter 13 - The Underground CityThe facility was beneath an abandoned railway station.
From above, it looked like nothing.
Below, it was a different world.
Steel corridors.
Glass rooms.
Private elevators.
Medical laboratories.
Banks of servers.
And photographs.
Hundreds of photographs.
Children.
Politicians.
Judges.
Doctors.
Families.
Sebastián stopped at one wall.
There were pictures of himself at every age.
Seven years old.
Ten.
Thirteen.
Sixteen.
Twenty.
Then the day he met Valeria.
He stared.
"They watched me."
Valeria stood beside him.
"They watched all of us."
Grant opened a security terminal.
"This place has its own financial network."
Sebastián looked at the servers.
"Can you shut it down?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it's distributed."
"Across what?"
Grant looked at the screen.
"Every major financial institution in the country."
Sebastián felt cold.
"Then how do we destroy it?"
Grant answered:
"We don't."
Valeria pointed at the ledger.
"We expose it."
Suddenly, lights turned on.
One by one.
A long hallway illuminated.
At the far end stood Vega.
Beside him was Adrián.
Rebeca was seated between them.
Vega applauded.
"Excellent."
Sebastián stepped forward.
"You wanted the child."
Vega nodded.
"Yes."
"You can have the ledger."
Valeria grabbed his arm.
"Sebastián."
He whispered:
"Trust me."
He lifted the black ledger.
Vega smiled.
"Bring it here."
Sebastián walked toward him.
Three steps.
Five.
Ten.
Then he stopped.
"You killed my father's reputation."
Vega shrugged.
"He was weak."
"You erased Adrián."
"He was inconvenient."
"You used my wife."
"He was willing."
Valeria's expression hardened.
"No."
Vega looked at her.
"You were always useful."
Sebastián held the ledger tighter.
"And the baby?"
Vega smiled.
"The baby will unlock the system."
"Then you don't need me."
"Correct."
Sebastián dropped the ledger.
Everyone froze.
Vega frowned.
"What are you doing?"
Sebastián stepped backward.
"You said the child is the key."
"Yes."
"Then why do you need the ledger?"
Vega's smile disappeared.
Sebastián understood.
"The ledger doesn't control the system."
Vega said nothing.
"It proves who controls it."
Valeria looked at him.
Sebastián raised his voice.
"You don't want the ledger because it's valuable."
He pointed at Vega.
"You want it because it names you."
Vega's expression became cold.
Adrián lifted his gun.
"Kill him."
Rebeca screamed.
"No!"
Adrián hesitated.
Sebastián stared at his brother.
"You don't have to."
Adrián frowned.
"You think you know me?"
"I know you were betrayed."
"By everyone."
"Yes."
"Then why should I trust you?"
Sebastián looked at him.
"Because I'm the only one who wants you alive."
Adrián lowered the gun slightly.
Then the servers behind Vega began shutting down.
One by one.
Vega spun around.
"What?"
Grant smiled.
"You forgot about the network's second vulnerability."
Vega looked furious.
"What did you do?"
Grant answered:
"I uploaded the ledger."
The facility alarm began screaming.
Every screen turned red.
Then a message appeared.
PUBLIC RELEASE INITIATED.
Vega's face went white.
Sebastián looked at Valeria.
She smiled for the first time in hours.
But then another message appeared.
UPLOAD BLOCKED.
A second line appeared beneath it.
AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Vega laughed.
"You still need the baby."
Sebastián looked down at the child.
Then the baby opened his eyes.
The server system beeped.
AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
Nobody moved.
May you like
The baby had activated the network.
And every locked door in the underground city opened.
