Kessler's Control Room – Moments Later
The air in the control room felt heavy with tension. The low hum of the servers echoed through the steel walls, a constant reminder of the power Kessler had over the world. His fingers moved with practiced precision across the keyboard, his eyes flicking between screens displaying global security feeds, military movements, and the ever-growing database of data streaming into his systems.
Grimm stood a few paces away, his hand resting on his rifle, eyes locked on Kessler's back. The man didn't seem phased—didn't even acknowledge the gunfire they had unleashed to get inside his sanctum. He was focused, consumed by his vision of a new world order.
Behind Grimm, the team took their positions. Tanya stood by the window, scanning for any signs of movement outside. Bull was near the door, ready to react if anyone tried to intervene. Reyes had already hacked into the facility's backup system, scrambling the feeds to delay any reinforcements from reaching them.
But no one could shake the nagging sense that they were running out of time.
"Do you know what you're doing, Kessler?" Grimm's voice cut through the silence, steady but filled with contempt. "You're playing god."
Kessler didn't look up from the screens, his fingers still flying over the keyboard. "God is a fiction. I'm doing what needs to be done. A world in chaos cannot be allowed to continue. SIGMA will fix that. Predict, control, eliminate the threat before it can even emerge. It's a perfect system."
Grimm took a step forward, his boots clicking sharply against the metal floor. "Perfect for you, maybe. But not for the rest of us. You're going to kill millions."
Kessler's fingers paused on the keyboard, his head tilting slightly as if he were contemplating the accusation. When he spoke again, his voice was low, almost pitying.
"Don't you see? Those lives are insignificant. I'm saving the world from itself. Humanity needs to be guided, to be led. Without leadership, without control, we spiral into destruction. You know that. You've seen it."
Grimm's jaw tightened. "I've seen it. And I've fought it. The world doesn't need a dictator. It needs freedom."
Kessler finally turned to face him, his eyes cold and calculating. "Freedom? That's a lie, Grimm. Freedom is an illusion. Look around you. Look at the state of the world. People are killing each other, enslaving one another, all in the name of freedom. I'm offering a way out of that madness. A way to bring order to the chaos."
Reyes, his fingers still dancing over his tablet, interrupted. "We've got a problem, Grimm. The final protocol has been activated. The countdown is starting."
Kessler's smirk widened as he saw the confusion in the team's faces. "You think you've won, but you're too late. The algorithm is already in place. SIGMA has already taken control of every system. It's only a matter of time before I can launch the final phase."
Grimm's blood ran cold as he looked to Reyes. "How long?"
Reyes hesitated, his eyes flicking to the countdown timer on one of the nearby screens. "Thirty minutes. Once that timer hits zero, SIGMA will be in full control. There's no way to stop it without destroying the entire system. And we don't have time for that."
Kessler's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "You've been a thorn in my side, Captain, but it's over now. There's nothing you can do."
Grimm's mind raced as he took in the situation. Thirty minutes. That was all they had. The weight of it settled over him, but he couldn't afford to panic. He had led teams through worse odds. They just needed a way to get to the heart of the system and destroy it before it was too late.
"Bull," Grimm said, his voice steady, "take out the backup generators. Tanya, cover us."
The team moved into action. Bull went toward the server room, ready to plant explosives. Tanya set up her sniper rifle, positioning herself to keep watch over the compound's perimeter. Wraith, ever the shadow, moved to secure their exits.
Grimm turned back to Kessler, who was still staring at his screens. "This ends now."
Kessler didn't respond, his fingers still moving as though nothing had changed. "You can try to stop it, but you'll only delay the inevitable. SIGMA is already making decisions for you, for everyone. It's already thinking ten steps ahead."
Grimm's eyes narrowed. "Then why don't you let it think for you right now?"
He moved quickly, faster than Kessler had anticipated, grabbing a chair and hurling it toward the console. Kessler's eyes widened as the chair slammed into the keyboard, disrupting the flow of data and causing a brief flicker across the screens.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kessler shouted, turning to face Grimm.
"I'm giving you a choice, Kessler," Grimm said, his voice cold. "You can end it here, or you can die with your precious system."
Kessler's face twisted in fury as he moved toward the control panel, fingers hovering over the emergency override. But Grimm was already there, shoving him aside, his weapon trained on the man.
"You think you're the only one who can control systems like this?" Grimm said, his voice cutting through the tension. "I've fought through systems like this before. And I will bring this one down."
Kessler glared at him, but he didn't move. "You're a fool."
Grimm's finger tightened on the trigger.
"We'll see about that."
Five Minutes Later
The countdown timer had hit five minutes, and the system was beginning to shut down in parts. The lights flickered. The hum of the servers was beginning to fade. Kessler's world was falling apart.
Reyes was on his tablet, fingers a blur as he tried to bypass the last of SIGMA's failsafes. "Come on, come on..."
The sound of a distant explosion echoed through the facility. Bull had done his job—he'd taken out the power. The entire compound was now in the dark.
Kessler's eyes filled with rage as he looked around, his plan unraveling. "You think this is over? You think you've won?"
Grimm didn't answer. Instead, he watched the countdown timer tick down—three minutes left.
And then, it was done. The countdown stopped. The system failed.
Kessler slumped, his face blank with disbelief. "No. It... it can't be..."
Grimm exhaled, his rifle still trained on Kessler's chest. "It is."