“Then I’ll make this fast.” Stavros sat behind his desk, and for the first time, he looked genuinely regretful. “I cannot allow the Lazarus Protocol to leave this building. Not even to save your brother.”
“You son of a bitch,” Dom growled, stepping forward.
The guards drew their weapons instantly—not at him, but at Vivi. Dom froze.
“I bear you no ill will,” Stavros said, his courteous tone never wavering. “But this cannot leave. Not intact.” He paused. “Destroy it, or you don’t leave. Those are the only options I can offer.”
Vivi looked at the case, then at Dom, whose jaw was clenched in helpless fury. “If we destroy it, what about Sabin?”
“As much as I like your brother, it’s not my concern.”
“We’ll find another way,” Dom said, though his voice held no conviction. “We have to.”
She thought of Sabin’s face on that video feed, the bruises, the broken fingers. The way he’d looked at her and still tried to smile through the pain. The way he’d told her to trust Dom when it came down to the wire.
And it had come down to the wire.
“How do we destroy it?” she asked Stavros.
He pointed to a small furnace built into the wall—something she’d mistaken for a fireplace. “That burns hot enough to melt just about anything.”
“Why am I not surprised you have a fucking crematorium in your office?” Dom picked up the case again, hefting it in his hands. “And if we refuse?”
Stavros shrugged elegantly. “Then we have a standoff that ends poorly for everyone. You don’t leave, the protocol doesn’t leave, and your brother still dies.” He spread his hands. “I take no pleasure in this position, but I am quite immovable on this point.”
She didn’t see any options and hoped Dom had a plan, but when she met his gaze, she saw only resignation. He knew they were trapped.
“Open it,” she told Stavros. “Show us what we’re destroying first.”
Stavros considered her request, then nodded. “A reasonable precaution.” He motioned to the desk, and after a reluctantmoment, Dom set the case down. He pulled it toward him and entered a code into the digital lock. The case opened with a soft hiss.
Inside, nestled in custom-cut foam, were three metallic cylinders, each about the size of a prescription bottle, glowing with a soft blue light. Beside them lay a small external hard drive and a thumb drive.
“The hardware and the software,” Stavros explained. “The cylinders contain the neural interface technology. The drives contain the mapping algorithms. Together, they form the complete protocol.”
Vivi stared at it, trying to understand how something so small could be worth Sabin’s life. Worth anyone’s life.
She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. Sabin had asked her to be smart, to be safe. This research, in Praetorian’s hands, would be neither. And maybe, just maybe, there was another way to save him.
“Do it,” she said.
Dom lifted the case and carried it to the furnace. Stavros opened the heavy metal door, revealing the glowing interior. Without hesitation, Dom tipped the contents into the fire—first the cylinders, which popped and hissed as they melted, then the drives, which gave off acrid smoke as they warped and bubbled.
Vivi watched it burn and felt all of her hope burning with it. She had no illusions anymore about how this would end.
When it was done, when nothing remained but twisted lumps of melted metal and plastic, Stavros closed the furnace door and turned to them. His smile returned, genuine this time.
“You’ve made the right choice,” he said. “For whatever comfort that may provide.”
“None,” Vivi said flatly.
Stavros inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I understand.” He gestured to the guards, who lowered theirweapons and stepped aside. “You are, of course, free to go. Your account at Villa Pandora has been closed, effective immediately. I would ask that you not return.”
Dom handed him the empty case. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
They walked to the door, both tense, half-expecting Stavros to change his mind. But he simply watched them go, that same measured courtesy never leaving his face.
“Ms. Cavalier,” he called as they reached the threshold. She turned. “I hope you find a way to save your brother. Truly.”
