Chapter 45: Self-Sacrifice Function

Icons appeared on the glass. The text was in a language I didn’t know, but the diagrams… they were universal. I saw pumps, valves, reservoirs.

​14:48.

14:47.

​The numbers in the corner of the screen were counting down. A red sector pulsed on the diagram. I began sliding my finger across the panel.

​BOOM!

​A heavy blow to the airlock interrupted me. The metal plate we were hiding behind shuddered.

​BOOM!

​"Richter," Ephraim said irritably.

​"First a timer, now Richter, what the hell."

​I immediately searched for a fast way to close the shutters. I found it and pressed the button—the contact closed. But the screen kept flashing the same message:

​Error 403: Lock protocol active. Manual confirmation in the Core required.

​"Locked." I punched the table.

​The timer blinked: 10:12.

​I looked around. In the center of the hall stood a column, inside of which massive disks rotated. Blue-white arcs of electricity jumped between the disks.

​"Ephraim, listen to me," I grabbed his shoulder. "That door… Richter will break it down. Soon. You need to crawl behind that rack. See it? It’s shielded. If I don't make it, and everything blows—you’ll have a couple of seconds of a head start there."

​"What about you?"

​"You'll see soon enough," I tossed back, stepping toward the Core.

​I ripped the service panel off the column. Inside, a shaft as thick as my head was spinning so fast it whistled. Every few seconds it jerked, opening another pressure release section.

​Timer: 05:30.

​BOOM!

​A few more minutes and he’ll be inside.

​I stood before the rotating shaft. Heat scorched my skin, the air reeked of overheated oil. I inserted my right hand into the narrow gap between the drive gear and the frame.

​At first, nothing happened. The crystal just ground against the steel, throwing sparks. Then I leaned in with my whole body, forcing the "arm" into the teeth of the mechanism.

​The screech of metal on metal hit my ears, and tears stung my eyes. My right arm began to be pulled in. I felt the vibration travel into the bone, crushing my shoulder joint, the crystal biting into the hardened steel.

​"Come on! Bend, you bitch!" I yelled, bracing my feet against the floor.

​The crystal proved harder than the gears. A deafening crack—one of the shaft teeth gave way and flew off, punching through the rack's casing near Ephraim. The shaft jerked; it tilted.

​The whole column began to shake. Sparks flooded the hall. Something inside the Core burst, and thick white steam poured out.

​Warning: Mechanical failure. Emergency dump sequence interrupted.

​The timer froze at the 00:04 mark.

​I collapsed to my knees. My right arm was jammed deep inside the machine. I couldn’t feel it. At all.

​"It worked..." Ephraim breathed from his cover.

​Behind us, the heavy titanium plate tore from its mounts and slammed to the floor with a crash, raising a cloud of dust.

​"Target..." Richter wheezed. The speaker spat out broken sounds. "De-stroy."

​His voice came through the speakers.

​"You jammed it..." Valerius whispered. "An instrument capable of self-sacrifice for the sake of function... fascinating. Richter, kill the old man. Leave the boy alive."

​He took a step forward.

​"Ephraim," I said quietly.

​"Cut," I nodded toward my shoulder. "Quickly. Before he gets any closer."