Chapter 11 - The Power Goes OutAt dawn, the southeastern grid began experiencing instability.
Hayes Renewables operated enough storage infrastructure that the disruption spread quickly.
Factories lost power.
Hospitals switched to backup systems.
Cities issued emergency warnings.
News helicopters flew over substations.
Wendell watched the coverage.
Richard had made his move.
But one detail made no sense.
The sabotage was too precise.
Too controlled.
Jaylen looked at the map.
“He's not shutting them down.”
“What is he doing?”
“Redirecting them.”
“To where?”
Jaylen zoomed in.
Every affected facility pointed toward one location.
A hidden industrial site outside Birmingham.
Wendell recognized it.
A former Hayes testing station.
Officially abandoned.
Unofficially, it housed an old transmission hub.
Richard was consolidating energy there.
“Why?”
Jaylen stared at the screen.
“He's testing Orion at scale.”
Wendell's face hardened.
“That's impossible.”
“He has enough storage systems connected to create a giant test.”
“If it fails?”
Jaylen looked at him.
“It could destroy the equipment.”
“Anything else?”
Jaylen hesitated.
“It could destabilize the grid.”
Wendell turned to Marcus.
“We go there.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Too dangerous.”
“We don't have time.”
Jaylen grabbed his jacket.
“I'm going too.”
“No.”
“My equations are the only thing that can shut it down.”
Wendell looked at him.
Then nodded.
They drove through the night.
The hidden facility was guarded.
Too heavily guarded for an abandoned building.
Marcus's team found a secondary entrance.
Inside, thousands of cables pulsed beneath red emergency lighting.
And at the center stood Richard.
Beside him was Orion.
Not the stolen prototype.
A massive industrial version.
Richard smiled.
“You came.”
Wendell stepped forward.
“Shut it down.”
Richard laughed.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What is it about?”
“Control.”
Richard pointed toward the machine.
“Whoever controls energy controls industry.”
Jaylen looked at the system.
Then froze.
“That's not Orion.”
Richard smiled.
“No.”
Jaylen moved closer.
“It's unstable.”
“I know.”
“It's going to fail.”
Richard looked at him.
“Unless you finish it.”
Wendell stepped between them.
“You're not taking him.”
Richard pressed a button.
A steel door slammed behind Jaylen.
He was trapped inside the control chamber.
Wendell ran toward him.
Too late.
Richard activated the system.
The machine roared.
Voltage surged.
Jaylen looked at the monitor.
“Wendell!”
“What?”
“The overload isn't coming from the machine.”
“Then where?”
Jaylen pointed upward.
“The grid.”
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The entire facility shook.
Then the lights turned white.
