The fluorescent lights of Interrogation Room 4 buzzed above them, illuminating Specialist Tyler as he breathed heavily in his OCP uniform, staring across the metal tactical table at Captain Sarah, who stood motionless with her hands behind her back.
Tyler violently slammed both of his fists onto the metal table, the loud noise echoing against the concrete walls, leaning aggressively into Sarah’s personal space, his blue eyes wide with anger.
“You have no right to give me orders, step outside right now, let’s settle this!” Tyler screamed, his face flushed red, while Sarah did not flinch, looking directly at him with a completely calm expression.
“Stand down, Specialist,” Sarah commanded quietly, her voice devoid of fear, causing Tyler to let out a growl, stepping aggressively around the edge of the tactical table, breaking military protocol.
With his large hand, he forcefully grabbed Sarah by the collar of her uniform, yanking her forward, raising his right fist.
“I’m not scared of your rank!” Tyler spat, the sound of tearing fabric echoing in the room, as Sarah’s eyes narrowed slightly, her expression shifting to highly lethal focus.
Before Tyler could deliver the punch, Sarah moved with extreme speed, her left hand shooting upward to snap his wrist back, breaking his grip, her right hand clamping firmly around his throat, using his forward momentum against him, sweeping his leg out from under his frame.
Tyler’s back hit the metal tactical table with a heavy smash, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs, while Sarah leaned over his body, pinning him by the throat with one hand, completely dominating the soldier.
With her free hand, she reached inside Tyler’s uniform shirt, ripping a hidden chain from his neck, holding the object up between them, revealing it was not a standard silver military dog tag, but a glowing black metallic drive with a red center.
Tyler stopped struggling entirely, his eyes widening in horror as he realized he had been caught, watching Sarah lean down slowly, her lips inches from his ear.
“Tell them they sent the wrong guy,” she whispered coldly.
“How did you know about the drive, they told me it was completely undetectable,” Tyler stammered, staring at the glowing device, his confidence gone.
“The Syndicate has sent many operatives into my unit, you are simply the latest attempt to bypass our security network,” Sarah replied, maintaining her grip on his throat, squeezing slightly.
“They promised me two million offshore for the base’s encryption key,” Tyler coughed.
“They lied to you, Tyler, this is not an encryption key to access the mainframe,” Sarah stated flatly, pressing her thumb against the side of the black metallic drive, causing the red glow to shift to a rapid blue pulse.
“This is a localized thermal detonator, cleverly disguised as a data drive,” she explained, watching his face drain of color.
“No, my handler swore it was just a tracker to monitor troop movements!” Tyler cried out, panic taking over his mind.
“Your handler considers you expendable, they used you to carry a bomb directly into my command center,” Sarah said, just as the iron door of the interrogation room hissed open, revealing three armed soldiers in black tactical gear aiming their rifles at Sarah.
“Drop the drive, Captain, step away from the Specialist,” the lead mercenary ordered, prompting Tyler to let out a weak laugh from his position on the metal table, finding his confidence again.
“You see, Sarah, I wasn’t the only one on this base they bought, you are outnumbered,” Tyler sneered.
“I already knew about your backup,” Sarah replied calmly, refusing to look away from Tyler’s face, releasing his throat, taking a step backward, holding the pulsing blue drive high in the air.
“Do you know what happens when this device loses contact with my biometric pulse?” Sarah asked the armed men, causing the lead mercenary to hesitate, glancing nervously at his comrades.
“I don’t care about your tricks, put it down on the floor right now!” the mercenary yelled, tightening his finger on the trigger.
“If I drop it, this entire bunker vaporizes in three seconds,” Sarah lied, keeping a perfectly calm expression, while Tyler screamed, scrambling off the metal table, backing away toward the wall.
The highly trained mercenaries didn’t shoot, their eyes locked in terror on the glowing blue device, waiting for her next move.
“I didn’t bring Tyler into this interrogation room to question him, I brought him here because this room is fully equipped with blast-proof titanium shielding,” Sarah said, tapping a button on her digital wrist communicator, causing heavy steel shutters to slam down over the observation window.
The heavy iron door sealed shut behind the mercenaries, locking all five of them inside the small space.
“The actual bomb isn’t in my hand, Tyler, it was planted in the tactical vests your three friends are currently wearing,” Sarah said softly, tossing the harmless black drive onto the floor.
The three mercenaries frantically looked down at their dark chest rigs, noticing a small green light blinking rapidly on their harnesses.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you all,” Sarah said, stepping backward behind the heavily reinforced blast pillar in the corner of the room.
Tyler screamed one final time before the small enclosed room erupted into white light.