Helen pushed herself away from the chair.
Marcus moved toward her.
A guard appeared in the doorway.
Marcus struck the man's wrist, sending his weapon across the floor.
Richard grabbed Marcus from behind.
Marcus twisted free.
“Richard!”
Richard froze.
Marcus looked at him.
“You don't have to do this.”
Richard's face showed hesitation.
Voss shouted.
“Take him!”
Richard looked toward Voss.
Then toward Marcus.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Richard stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Voss stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
“I said enough.”
Voss's expression turned cold.
“You're forgetting who owns you.”
Richard looked at him.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I'm remembering who I am.”
Voss reached for his phone.
Richard knocked it away.
The phone hit the floor.
Helen looked at Marcus.
“Go.”
Marcus helped her stand.
They ran.
Behind them, Voss shouted.
The hallway filled with footsteps.
Marcus and Helen rushed down the stairs.
Richard followed.
“You have to leave through the basement,” Richard said.
Marcus looked at him.
“Why are you helping us?”
Richard kept moving.
“Because I finally realized something.”
“What?”
“Voss doesn't intend to let any of us survive.”
They reached the basement.
A car waited outside.
Richard handed Marcus the keys.
“Take it.”
Marcus looked at him.
“What about you?”
Richard shook his head.
“I'll slow them down.”
Marcus hesitated.
Richard looked at him.
“Go.”
Marcus helped Helen into the car.
They drove through the city.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Finally, Helen said:
“The drive.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Destroyed.”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“What?”
“It wasn't the real drive.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“The real one is safe.”
Helen laughed softly.
“You thought I would let you walk into a trap without a backup?”
Marcus smiled.
“You're starting to sound like me.”
“That's what worries me.”
They reached the safe location.
Sarah was waiting.
She looked relieved when she saw Helen.
“You're alive.”
Helen nodded.
“Barely.”
Marcus entered the room.
“Did the trap work?”
Sarah nodded.
“We traced the transfer.”
“To Zurich?”
“Yes.”
“But there's more.”
She opened a laptop.
“The data Voss accessed wasn't the complete algorithm.”
Marcus smiled.
“I knew it.”
Sarah looked at him.
“How?”
“Because I designed it.”
He pointed toward the screen.
“The system he accessed can predict failures.”
Sarah frowned.
“But not outcomes.”
“Exactly.”
Helen understood.
“The final layer.”
Marcus nodded.
“That's what Voss wants.”
Sarah looked at the encrypted files.
“Can he build it himself?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the final layer requires a human decision model.”
Helen looked at Marcus.
“You.”
Marcus nodded.
For twenty years, he had believed the most valuable part of his invention was the code.
It wasn't.
It was the way he had taught the system to understand human behavior.
Voss had the infrastructure.
He had the data.
He had the money.
But he didn't have Marcus's final model.
And without it, the system could identify vulnerabilities but could not accurately predict how people would react.
That meant Voss still needed him.
Marcus looked at the city outside.
“He'll come after me again.”
Sarah nodded.
“What do we do?”
Marcus answered immediately.
“We stop running.”
Helen looked at him.
“You have a plan?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Marcus opened a secure file.
Inside were thousands of records.
Government contracts.
Financial transfers.
Messages.
Surveillance files.
Everything they had collected.
“We release it.”
Sarah stared.
“All of it?”
“Everything verified.”
“That could destroy Meridian.”
“It should.”
“It could destroy people who aren't involved.”
“Then we separate the evidence.”
Helen nodded.
“Carefully.”
Marcus looked at the clock.
“We have twelve hours.”
Sarah frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Voss will know what we're doing.”
As if summoned by the words, every phone in the room vibrated.
Marcus looked down.
A message appeared.
YOU THINK YOU CAN EXPOSE US.
Another message arrived.
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ALREADY INSIDE YOUR COMPANY.
Then a final message.
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
Marcus turned.
The room was empty.
Sarah looked at him.
“What?”
Marcus's phone vibrated again.
A photograph appeared.
It showed the safe house.
Taken from outside.
Marcus's expression hardened.
“He found us.”
Helen stood.
“How?”
Marcus looked at the photograph.
Then at the others.
“Because someone gave him our location.”
Sarah's face went pale.
“No one knew where we were.”
Marcus stared at her.
“I did.”
Silence.
Sarah looked at him.
“So did I.”
Helen slowly turned toward the door.
Then Marcus noticed something.
The photograph showed four people entering the safe house.
Marcus.
Helen.
Sarah.
And one more person.
Marcus zoomed in.
His face changed.
Richard.
But Richard was supposed to be in Zurich.
Marcus whispered:
“He followed us.”
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed through the building.
Helen screamed.
Sarah dropped to the floor.
Marcus moved toward the wall.
Another shot.
Then silence.
Marcus reached for his phone.
A message appeared.
THE GAME IS OVER.
He looked toward the darkness.
Then a voice came from the hallway.
“Not quite.”
Marcus recognized it.