“The virus feeds on resistance,” Ethan explained quietly. “You kept trying to block it. I shut down the barriers. Without resistance, it starves.”
He glanced at a counter. “Three… two… one.”
The room flooded with green light.
“System stabilized. Threat neutralized,” announced an automated voice.
Silence followed.
The seasoned experts stared at the boy in disbelief.
But Hale’s pride burned hotter than relief. “I don’t care. He entered illegally. Get him out.”
Ethan stood slowly, picking up his laptop. He brushed his fingers over his mother’s photo and took his father’s hand.
“My mom used to say power shows who you really are,” he said, meeting Hale’s gaze. “Some use it to lift others. Some use it to crush them.”
Before they could leave, another voice cut through the tension.
“That’s enough.”
William Carter, the seventy-year-old founder and majority shareholder of Nexus Shield, stepped forward. His presence commanded instant silence.
“So this is your leadership, Christopher?” he asked softly. “Humiliate the boy who saved eight hundred million dollars?”
Hale stammered, but Carter ignored him. He knelt before Ethan.