Chapter 3 - THE LOCKDOWN
"Are you deaf?!" the robber shrieked, his voice cracking with hysterical rage as he aggressively racked the shotgun, sliding a live, heavy-gauge shell into the chamber with a sharp, metallic clack. "GET DOWN OR I'LL BLOW YOU TO PIECES!"
The boy didn't even blink. With a thumb as steady as a seasoned surgeon's, he pressed one small, recessed button on the face of the matte-black device.
Clang. Whir-r-r-r.
Instantly, four thick, industrial-grade steel blast-shields slammed down across every exterior window with a deafening, earth-shaking force, completely blotting out the midday sun in a heartbeat.
Before anyone could even scream, the main glass entry doors hissed shut under massive pneumatic pressure. Following right behind them, a heavy, reinforced-steel security grate slammed home from the ceiling, locking securely into channels in the floor with a deep, bone-rattling magnetic thud.
The room plunged into sudden, suffocating darkness, only to be instantly cut through as emergency backup lights flared to life, bathing the entire lobby in an ominous, pulsing red glow.
The robber spun in absolute horror, staring wildly at the sealed walls. Panic completely overriding his remaining senses, he raced to the entrance, throwing his full shoulder against the impenetrable steel grate—it did not give an inch.
Enraged and terrified, he lifted the shotgun, pressed the smoking barrel inches from the master locking mechanism, and pulled the trigger.
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BOOM.
The close-range blast ricocheted violently off the reinforced titanium-alloy plate, sending a brilliant shower of white-hot sparks skittering wildly across the checkered linoleum floor like dying stars.
