Chapter 18: Overloading the Generator

Elias stared at the humming generator, its energy a palpable force in the room. He knew he had to act quickly and decisively. He couldn’t manipulate energy like Kai, but he could use his speed and understanding of physics to his advantage.

Focusing his enhanced speed, Elias began to move his hands at an incredible rate, rubbing them together with friction that generated heat and, more importantly, an electrical current. The air around his hands crackled with energy, a visible aura of electricity forming between his palms. It was a raw, uncontrolled power, a far cry from Kai’s refined energy manipulation, but it was enough.

Evelyn watched in a mixture of awe and apprehension as Elias’s hands became a blur, the electrical charge intensifying. The generator hummed louder, sensing the disruption in the energy flow.

With a guttural yell, Elias shoved his hands into the generator’s core. The effect was immediate and violent. A surge of raw electrical power coursed through the machine, overloading its circuits. Sparks flew, and the generator shuddered violently, its humming turning into a high-pitched whine. The lights in the facility flickered and died, plunging the room into darkness. Alarms began to blare, a cacophony of noise that echoed through the facility.

Elias staggered back, the feedback from the overloaded generator coursing through his body. He felt a jolt of pain, but he had done it. The energy dampeners, tied to the main power grid, should be disrupted.

“Now!” Evelyn yelled, her voice barely audible over the alarms. “Tempest’s cell is on the lowest level, sub-level five! I remember the access code!”

As guards began to converge on the generator room, alerted by the chaos, Elias grabbed Evelyn’s hand. “Lead the way!”

They moved through the darkened facility, the alarms their only guide. The guards, disoriented by the power outage and the sudden chaos, were slow to react. Elias, using his speed and enhanced senses, navigated the twisting corridors, following Evelyn’s directions.

The facility was in lockdown, security doors slamming shut, but Evelyn’s knowledge of the layout allowed them to bypass the automated systems. They descended deeper into the facility, towards the lowest level, where Tempest was held.

The race was on. Could they reach Tempest before the guards regained control? And what state would they find him in after years of captivity and energy dampening?