Chapter 46 - Arthur’s Last Will and Testament
"Rachel..." Arthur choked out, his breath rattling in his chest.
Pinned to the deck fifteen feet away, Rachel was desperately working a concealed ceramic utility blade out of her tactical belt sleeve, slicing into her own flesh to lubricate the titanium cuff with her own blood. "I'm almost free, Arthur! Hold on!"
"Listen to me!" Arthur’s voice was ragged, desperate, and urgent. "You can't cut through titanium in time! Look at my chest!"
Rachel turned her head, blood dripping from her torn wrist. Beneath Arthur’s torn shirt, a faint, rhythmic green LED light was flashing through his skin, right over his sternum.
"Your pacemaker..." Rachel realized, her eyes widening.
"It's not just a pacemaker," Arthur wheezed, blood flecking his lips. "When I stepped down from Vance Industries... I knew Daniel and Alexander would try to kill me eventually. I had the military division build a fail-safe into my bio-regulator. It’s an EMP micro-charge tied to my cardiac pulse. If my heart stops... a five-thousand-volt localized burst detonates from my ribcage."
"No!" Rachel gasped, tears finally spilling from her eyes. "Arthur, no! You can't!"
"If that charge fires within ten feet of this magnetic deck, it will fry the magnetic anchors!" Arthur grunted, tears carving clean lines through the dirt on his ancient face. "It will drop their localized shields for thirty seconds! It's the only way to reach Lily before those needles drill into her skull!"
"Arthur, there has to be another way!"
"There is no other way, Rachel!" the old man shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "I built this empire! I allowed Daniel to become the monster that hurt that poor child! I looked the other way because I was too proud, too obsessed with corporate legacy! My entire life's work bought the chains that were put around my granddaughter’s neck!"
He looked across the gap toward Lily, who was strapped to the cold table, crying out for her mother as the mechanical needles descended to within inches of her eyes.
"Clara was your sister," Arthur whispered softly, his breathing steadying, his expression transforming into one of absolute peace. "She was the best of us. Take care of our girl, Rachel. Teach her to live without chains."
Arthur Vance reached up with his one free hand, gripped the heavy titanium casing of the external medical sensor sewn into his collar, and with a feral, agonized roar of pure willpower, ripped the pacemaker leads straight out through his chest wall.
His heart monitor flatlined instantly.
*THREE.*
*TWO.*
*ONE.*
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A blinding flash of blue-white electrical fire erupted from Arthur's chest.
***
