Against the Countdown

Jasmine's shout made my ears ring.

"Liquid nitrogen caused metal embrittlement. Why didn't you say something sooner?"

I looked at her.

Just a few hours ago, this woman had personally broken my right hand.

Now, she was demanding to know why I hadn't predicted the accident that happened after she destroyed me.

I let out a cold laugh.

"With precision equipment, a sudden temperature drop causing a failure is completely normal."

My voice was soft, but it hit her raw nerves.

"Shut up!"

She suddenly grabbed my intact left hand and dragged me forward like she had lost her mind.

"Hurry up and stabilize it. Gil's still under investigation. He can't take any more responsibility!"

Gil. Again. Always Gil.

She yanked me so hard that I staggered. My right arm hung uselessly at my side, every jolt sending stabbing pain through me.

I gathered all my strength and violently shook her off. Then, I thrust my mangled right hand in front of her.

"Jasmine! My hand is broken!"

Her pupils shrank sharply. My ruined hand was like silent evidence, accusing her of everything she had done.

After a few seconds, the guilt in her eyes vanished, replaced by even more frantic muttering.

"It's fine… It's fine. You can do it with one hand. You're that good, right?"

She looked up at me with an almost pleading gaze.

"For Gil, just try. Just this once!"

Bang!

The command room door was kicked open.

Carl rushed in with the guards. The first thing he saw was my raised right hand, bloody and unrecognizable.

The fury on his face was enough to set the whole room on fire.

"Take her down!"

The guards surged forward and slammed the still-raving Jasmine to the floor.

I finally let out a breath and slumped backward, only to be caught in time by steady hands.

I thought it was over.

But Jasmine, pinned to the ground, suddenly jerked her head up and pointed at me with everything she had, screaming hysterically, "It was him! He was jealous of Gil's talent, so he sabotaged the server on purpose! He even broke his own right hand to frame me!"

I stared at her in disbelief.

She was the wife I had loved for ten years, the woman I had shared a bed with. How could she be this shameless?

My mind went completely blank. I didn't even have the strength to argue back.

At that moment, Gilbert was brought in.

He was sobbing uncontrollably. When he saw Jasmine being restrained, his crying grew even louder.

Jasmine clung to Carl like he was her last lifeline and screamed at him.

"General Webb! Gil can sense energy flow. He can fix it. Let him try! He's the only one who can save this server!"

Gilbert's sobbing stopped.

He looked at Jasmine, then at me, and finally at Carl.

To save Jasmine, he nodded heavily before everyone, tears still in his eyes.

In that instant, it felt as if all my strength had been ripped away.

I couldn't let this happen.

I forced out a hoarse shout with everything I had left.

"Don't! The core is already overloaded. Direct contact will trigger a chain explosion! Everyone will die!"

Yet, no one listened to me.

In their eyes, I was just a man driven mad by jealousy.

Two staff members grabbed Gilbert and pushed him toward the core server, which was already emitting a low, ominous hum.

I watched helplessly as he trembled and slowly reached out his hand.

Time froze in that moment.

I stared at his fingertips, just about to touch the machine.

It was over. This was how it would end.

I closed my eyes and waited for the explosion and fire that would swallow us all.