Choice
Inside the cold, metal pipe, it was dark, narrow, and suffocating. Elaine dragged her aching left leg, crawling laboriously along the rough pipe walls. Every movement brought excruciating pain to her broken leg bone and a protest from all her muscles, but the pain in her heart was even worse than her body.
Keegan's final scream, the muffled groan as he was shot, and the heavy thud of the isolation gate falling echoed repeatedly in her mind, almost tearing her apart. Tears mixed with sweat, blood, and dust from the pipes blurred her vision, but she dared not stop. Her teeth dug deep into her lower lip, tasting the salty, metallic flavor of blood, as she used her remaining willpower to prop up her collapsing body.
Her right hand gripped the cold USB drive, engraved with a lightning bolt and skull, so tightly that the sharp edges dug painfully into her palm, yet it was like the only source of warmth, sustaining her last vestige of survival. She had to get out… she had to get the evidence out… Keegan had risked his life for this…
She crawled through the darkness for what felt like an eternity, until finally a faint ray of light and a biting mountain wind appeared ahead. With her last ounce of strength, she struggled to climb out of the pipe and collapsed heavily onto the snow-covered slope, the biting cold instantly enveloping her. Almost the instant she appeared, two dark figures darted out of the woods on her flank like cheetahs—Hesh and Logan, there to provide backup.
“Elaine!” Hesh’s deep, urgent voice rang out. He grabbed her swaying body and his sharp gaze swept over the empty pipe behind her. His expression changed drastically. “Where’s Keegan?!”
Elaine opened her mouth, but her throat felt constricted by rising blood, preventing her from making a sound. Only scalding tears streamed down her face, mingling with the grime and flowing freely. Trembling, she used her right hand, covered in mud and blood, to desperately lift the USB drive and the data hard drive she was clutching tightly to her chest.
Logan immediately crouched down to check her injuries, while simultaneously growling into the encrypted headset, his voice suppressing immense shock and rage: "Ghost calling Eagle's Nest! Mission accomplished, evidence in hand! But... Keegan didn't make it out! Repeat, Keegan didn't make it out! Requesting emergency medical support! Elaine is critically injured and needs immediate evacuation!"
Hesh remained silent, his face ashen, a terrifying storm raging in his eyes. He swiftly and carefully hoisted the nearly exhausted Elaine onto his broad, sturdy back, while Logan brought up the rear with his gun. The three of them vanished into the depths of the dense forest as if blending into the shadows.
On the other side of the border, in a completely secluded safe house on the Swiss-Italian border, a medic quickly provided Elaine with emergency treatment. Her left leg injury had worsened significantly due to overuse and required re-immobilization; she had multiple abrasions and minor frostbite all over her body; but most worrying were the immense psychological trauma she had suffered and her severe hypothermia.
She was curled up on the makeshift bed, covered with a thick blanket, her face as pale as paper, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, as if her soul had been ripped away. Only her hands were still tightly gripping the USB flash drive and hard drive, her knuckles white from the force.
Hesh and Logan stood guard at the door, like two silent statues, the atmosphere so oppressive it could melt water. Suddenly, a rapid, static-filled beeping sound came from the encrypted terminal. It was Ghost transmitting a high-priority encrypted message from the Eagle's Nest adventure; the signal was extremely unstable: "...Eagle's Nest...received...Commander Price...has been...recalled by headquarters...Our...actions are restricted...Ensure evidence security...Awaiting...new instructions...Maintain absolute silence..."
The information came in fits and starts, but the core message was chillingly clear—Price was suddenly recalled by headquarters, Ghost's operations were thwarted, and their internal support within the "Eagle's Nest" was almost completely eradicated!
"Damnit!" Hesh slammed his fist into the alloy wall with a dull thud, his eyes bloodshot.
Logan's face was terribly grim: "We've been betrayed..."
Despite the excruciating physical pain and immense grief, Elaine, with Hesh's assistance, struggled to sit up, connected to her portable terminal, and began reading data from the hard drive and USB flash drive. The data on the hard drive appeared first, its contents causing the temperature in the safe room to plummet: the logs coldly recorded the entire process of the "Night Watch" virus's onset, mortality rate, and infectivity data in hundreds of carriers with different genetic markers, its cruelty appalling; there was also a meticulously detailed list of "priority elimination targets" categorized by region, ethnicity, and demographics, its ruthlessness comparable to the Nazi Final Solution; and several remnants of communications, repeatedly encrypted and erased, pointed to more than one heavyweight figure within NATO, far exceeding Thorne's level, expressing "cautious optimism" about the "strategic value" of the "purification agreement" and offering political asylum.
Most chillingly, the log clearly points to the Geneva Global Financial Summit three weeks later, where the "Night Watchman" project will undergo its "first large-scale on-site validation."
However, all the core data pointed to the need for the final key stored on the USB drive to fully unlock and reverse trace. Elaine tried all known passwords, aliases, and project codes associated with Makarov, but each time a glaring red error warning popped up on the screen.
Despair spread like ice water. Just as she was about to give up, Elaine suddenly remembered Keegan entering the password to open the cabinet branded with a lightning bolt and skull before he smashed the virus sample. That was his last voice… Trembling, she entered one last attempt in the password box: “Eden.” The screen flickered, and the progress bar instantly filled up—decryption successful!
The USB drive contained only one core file: "Night Watch Final Protocol - Activate Public Key and Global Target Matrix." This was the final key to launching the global attack! But just below the file list was an extremely brief, unencrypted fragment of text log, like a casually jotted-down note: "'Reaper' insists on using 'Sample K-7' in the final stage of testing to verify the virus's extreme effects on the most robust individuals. A time-wasting personal quirk, but... perhaps it has some dramatic showmanship value."
These words struck Elaine's almost frozen mind like a bolt of lightning—Keegan, he... might still be alive! He wouldn't be executed on the spot, but would most likely be used by Makarov (or a core member codenamed "The Reaper") as a special "ultimate test subject"! They wanted to see what effect the virus would have on a top-tier warrior like him!
Just then, the encrypted channel reconnected, this time with a much more stable signal. Price appeared on the screen, looking exhausted with heavy shadows under his eyes, as if he had just escaped from a fierce battle. The background was an unfamiliar, rudimentary safe house.
“I already know the situation.” Price’s voice was hoarse, filled with deep exhaustion and suppressed anger. “The Keegan affair… was a major mistake on my part. I underestimated the extent of the corruption within.” He paused, his gaze sharpening as he looked at Elaine. “But now is not the time for blame. Grief and anger will only hasten our demise. The evidence you brought back is the only hope to turn things around.”
He looked at Elaine, his eyes deep and heavy: "Elaine, you decoded the data and saw the logs. Keegan may still be alive, but he will likely be used as a 'sample,' which means his time may be shorter than we thought. Saving him and stopping 'Harvest Day' are now the same task, and they must be accomplished simultaneously! We must find his core hive, destroy it, and rescue Keegan before Makarov uses his final means."
“But our current situation…” Logan interjected in a deep voice, his tone grave.
“I know we’re almost completely isolated,” Price interrupted him, her tone resolute. “But their current objective is merely a probe. They haven’t gone all in yet. Keegan’s decision not to hand over all the evidence to the military police has bought us some breathing room. Your mission is to use the evidence you have to follow the trail and find Makarov’s hideout! That lightning bolt skull symbol is the key clue! Elaine, you’re the only one among us who can dig deep into this trail and find their lair!”
Elaine looked up, her face still streaked with tears, but her eyes were no longer empty; instead, they held a cold, steel-like fire and an undeniable resolve. The thought that Keegan might still be alive was like a shot of adrenaline into her nearly exhausted body, but it also brought a heavier, more urgent pressure. She clutched the USB drive tightly in her hand, as if drawing strength from it.
“Keegan destroyed one of their few remaining samples. They won’t kill him immediately. Keegan is their most valuable bargaining chip and hostage, their ‘perfect sample’ to test the virus’s effects on the strongest individuals.” Her words sent a chill down everyone’s spine. “They need time to obtain samples from Keegan for testing, and they need time to prepare for ‘Harvest Day.’ We also have time, but very little.” She pointed to the data on the screen. “The chain of evidence is complete, but we need the most crucial ‘on-site evidence’ and ‘activation code’ to launch a fatal blow on a global scale. These are likely still underground in the monastery, or somewhere else known only to Makarov’s core members and which we haven’t yet obtained.” She turned, her gaze sweeping over Hesh and Logan, her eyes filled with undeniable power. “We need a plan, a precise, deadly decapitation strike, when they least expect it.”
Hesh slammed his fist into his palm, his eyes burning with the flames of revenge: "Fine! Even if it means turning hell upside down, I'll bring Keegan back!"
Logan's eyes flashed with coldness as he quickly analyzed, "We need more precise intelligence, we need to find the source of that 'lightning skull,' we need a breakthrough."
Price nodded emphatically, his face regaining its usual decisiveness: "I will try to mobilize the resources of 'Eagle's Nest' through the most covert channels. Ghost, just in case, find a way to deal with Keegan's infection by the strain beforehand; Elaine, you lead all intelligence analysis and clue tracking, you are our brain. Hesh, Logan, you are responsible for developing all possible combat plans based on Elaine's intelligence. We not only need to rescue people, but also take this opportunity to send Makarov and his 'Night Watch' plan, along with the protectors behind them, to hell!"
The faint flame of hope was finally rekindled amidst the ashes of despair and the chill of betrayal. But the road ahead was shrouded in darkness, with powerful enemies lurking all around and internal crises lurking everywhere. Elaine knew she was no longer just a tech expert who needed protection; she had to become a sharp blade fighting for Keegan, for justice, and for survival.
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