Page 62 of Stripe Theory

The lab’s outer perimeter came into view, heavily guarded by enhanced forces. Security systems that should have protected the building now worked against her – someone had compromised the protocols. But they hadn’t counted on her intimate knowledge of the facility’s quirks.

“Time to get creative,” she muttered, pulling up the building’s original structural plans.

The chemical storage area connected to three separate ventilation systems, each with its own containment protocols. If she timed it right...

Her tablet’s readings showed alarming viral saturation levels in the building. Of course, Leeta would contaminate this building too. The containment systems were struggling to compensate, creating gaps in the security grid. She slipped through their defenses using paths only a scientist intimately familiar with the building would know existed.

Stay safe, his thoughts carried equal parts command and plea.

“Working on it,” she whispered, navigating through volatile compounds. The virus’s presence had compromised even the lab’s most basic systems. Maintaining sterile conditions while avoiding detection required all her focus.

The main lab was worse than she’d imagined. Critical systems failing, containment alerts flashing on every screen. Power fluctuations threatened equipment she desperately needed for the cure synthesis. But she had no choice. She had to make it work.

The lab’s emergency lights painted everything in an eerie red glow as Alora frantically worked at her station. Each movement sent fresh waves of pain through her injured shoulder, but she couldn’t stop now. Not when they were so close.

“Okay, think, Sky,” she muttered, hands hovering over equipment she could probably operate in her sleep. “Just like making cookies. Except instead of chocolate chips, we’re using highly unstable compounds that could literally explode if mixed wrong.” She paused. “Actually, that’s not too different from my last attempt at baking.”

Her tablet chimed with another alert. Genesis Corp forces had breached the secondary security checkpoint.

I’m fine. Thoughfinemight be a slight exaggeration.

His response carried equal parts exasperation and pride:Your definition of ‘fine’ needs work.

“Everyone’s a critic,” she muttered, but his presence steadied her as she measured out precise amounts of the stabilizing compound. The formula had to be perfect - too much or too little could make the difference between cure and death.

Her earpiece crackled. “Sky!” Hunter’s voice was tense with barely controlled panic. “Maya’s flatlining. Her shifter healing isn’t?—”

“I know!” The vial in her hand trembled slightly before she forced it steady. “The virus is adapting faster than we predicted. It’s targeting the genetic markers that control healing.” She took a deep breath. “Tell the medical team to check her beta lymphocyte counts. The virus might be masking as normal cellular damage.”

His tiger’s protective rage flowed into her, lending strength when her own began to drop off.

The lab’s containment alarm shrieked again. Red warning lights flashed across her monitors as another system failed. Atthis rate, the building’s environmental controls would collapse within minutes.

“Oh, stop being so dramatic,” she told the blaring alarm. “This is hardly the worst thing that’s happened in this lab.”

FORTY-SEVEN

Movement caught Alora’s eye - shadows in the corridor beyond the lab’s reinforced doors. The enhanced Genesis Corp operatives were getting closer, their mutations giving them strength that normal security measures couldn’t handle.

Time for some creative problem-solving.

“Let’s see how you handle this,” she murmured, activating a sequence she’d prepared for emergencies. Though honestly, she’d been thinking more along the lines of chemical spill rather than enhanced-paramilitary invasion.

She opened the door just enough to throw a tube of chemicals on the hallway tile. She watched it shatter and smoke float down the hall, then slammed the door closed and locked it. The corridor filled with the carefully calibrated mix of compounds. Nothing lethal - she wasn’t Leeta - but the combination would play havoc with enhanced senses.

On the monitors, she watched the first wave of operatives stagger, their accelerated abilities working against them as their enhanced systems tried to process too much input at once.

Her phone chimed with an incoming call. “Please tell me you have good news,” she answered, wedging the phone between her shoulder and ear as she continued working.

“The molecular structure is still destabilizing,” her father’s voice crackled through static. “You need to complete the cure within the next ten minutes or?—”

“Or it all falls apart,” she finished. “No pressure or anything.”

“Alora...” His tone softened. “Sweetheart, be careful. Your mother and I?—”

“I know, Dad.” She swallowed past the sudden tightness in her throat. “I love you too. Now let me focus before I accidentally combine the wrong compounds and make us all dead.”

His chuckle carried equal parts worry and pride. “Show them what Sky women can do.”

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