Chapter 7 - Breaching the Perimeter
Desperation breeds stupidity.
A month after Michael Jr. was born, the security alarms in the Vanguard lobby triggered. I was in my office, bouncing my sleeping son against my shoulder, when the security feed popped up on my monitor.
My parents had somehow bypassed the outer civilian gate by tailgating a delivery truck. They were now standing in the glass lobby, screaming at the heavily armed guards.
"I demand to see my daughter!" my father was yelling, his face purple with rage. His clothes looked unwashed, his posture stooped. "She owes us! You tell Elena to get down here right now!"
My mother was weeping loudly, clinging to the reception desk. "Please! We just want to see our grandson! We have no money for rent! Please!"
Captain Elias came over the intercom. "Director, we have a breach in the lobby. Subjects are hostile but unarmed. Shall we hand them over to local law enforcement?"
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I looked at the screen. I saw the people who had looked at me with disgust when I was grieving. I saw the people who prioritized a podcast over their grandchild's life.
"No, Elias," I said softly, my voice cold as steel. "Hold them in the lobby. I'm coming down."
