Chapter 236

Chapter 236:

Camille watched her phone, real-time alerts flashing from the Grid’s monitoring system. “Junction 17 showing stress,” she muttered. “Power loads increasing on the northern relay.”

Her phone rang again. Hannah’s voice came through, tight with panic. “It’s spreading faster than we predicted. The safety protocols are shutting down relays to prevent overload, but that’s pushing too much power to the remaining stations.”

“Can you bypass the safety protocols manually?” Camille asked.

“Too risky. We’d burn out the whole system. We need to redirect the power flow from the damaged substation.”

“I’m almost there,” Camille promised.

The Grid control center hummed with frantic activity when they arrived. Engineers rushed between workstations. Warning signals flashed on screens. Hannah stood in the center, issuing instructions, her usual calm replaced by tense urgency.

“Camille!” Relief washed over Hannah’s face. “The situation’s getting worse.”

Camille moved immediately to the main control panel. Displays showed the Phoenix Grid as an interconnected web of light. One section glowed angry red—Substation 12 and its connecting relays. Yellow warning indicators spread outward like a disease, showing stress points throughout the system.

“Where will it fail next?” she asked, eyes scanning the data.

Hannah pointed to three junctions. “Any of these could go. When one does, it will trigger a cascade.”

Alexander studied the schematics over Camille’s shoulder. “Can you isolate Substation 12 completely?”

“If we do, we lose power to eight city blocks,” Hannah replied.

“Better than losing the whole eastern sector,” Camille decided. “Do it.”

Hannah typed commands into the system. On the main display, the connections to Substation 12 went dark. Warning lights across the board flashed as the Grid adjusted to the sudden change.

“Power load redistributing,” Hannah reported. “Junction 24 now at ninety-five percent capacity. That’s too high.”

Camille leaned forward, fingers flying across the keyboard. “Rerouting through the western sector backup. System should balance in three… two… one…”

The warning lights for Junction 24 shifted from red to yellow, then green.

“It’s holding,” Hannah said, not quite believing it.

“For now,” Camille cautioned. “But we’ve lost redundancy. If there’s another failure—”

Alexander’s phone rang. He stepped away to answer, his expression darkening as he listened.

“Police found evidence of explosives at the substation,” he reported when he returned. “Professional job. They’re checking security footage now.”

Camille’s fists clenched. “She’s escalated. This isn’t just sabotage anymore.”

.

.

.