“I pulled the main feed,” I said, my hand stinging from the electrical burn. “I think the transfer failed.”

The silence in the room was absolute for three seconds.

Then, the emergency red lights began to pulse.

A low, mechanical hum echoed through the walls as the heavy ventilation shafts closed shut.

The building was entering a hard lockdown.

Suddenly, a bright white light illuminated the desk behind me.

It wasn’t the computer terminal.

It was my personal cell phone, which I had left beside the keyboard.

The screen was flashing with an incoming call from a number I didn’t recognize.

I picked up the phone, my hand shaking as I swiped the screen to answer.

A familiar, breathless voice came through the speaker.

“Nora,” Dr. Elaine Brooks said, her voice trembling with panic. “They know where you are, and they’re coming to the hotel now.”

“Elaine?” I asked, squeezing the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

“Nora, listen to me,” she gasped, her voice competing with the sound of rushing wind. “You have to run. The security team at the hotel is compromised.”