The rusted chain-link fence surrounding the facility creaked in the cold wind. Dried weeds poked through cracks in the crumbling asphalt lot. A faded "Keep Out" sign hung askew on the barbed wire-topped barrier. To most it was an unremarkable abandoned site. But for Dr. Jessica Riviera it was ground zero of the project that had consumed and destroyed her life's work.
Jessica's roving gaze paused on a shattered second-story window of the main lab building. Even after two years that jagged opening mocked her - the point of no return when everything went drastically awry. She shivered remembering that dreadful night fleeing the chaos her experiment had unleashed.
What began as the noble pursuit of unlimited clean energy had mutated into something else entirely. Too late Jessica realized the full implications of her discovery's potential for mass devastation in the wrong hands. And those hands were already stretching toward her lab in a frantic power grab by rival scientists and shadowy organizations who saw her breakthrough as a chance to yield the ultimate weapon.
She pressed her palm against the rusty fence feeling the painful chill of metal even through her thick gloves. This place held answers but entering alone was tantamount to suicide. Her former colleagues-turned-crazed opportunists along with underworld operatives willing to kill were likely staking it out in shifts. They wanted the remaining prototypes her team developed while harnessing electromagnetism and gravitational energy to forge a new renewable source. If detonated as a weapon the resulting electromagnetic pulses could cripple electronics and defenses across entire continents. She had to eliminate that terrifying risk.
A soft groan behind her made Jessica's breath catch in her throat. She whirled squinting at a figure emerging from a copse of trees twenty yards back. Her heart slammed as it stepped into view clutching a revolver.
"Well well, the scientist herself graces us with her presence," the thick Russian accent sneered. "Nice night for a stroll down memory lane...or should I say to reclaim your little surprise before it falls into even worse hands?"
"Yuri Romanov," Jessica tensed bracing herself against the fence. "I might have known your filthy tendrils would snake back here again eventually."
The former KGB operative's face cracked into a sinister grin. "You're still a feisty one. But we both know you're out of options."
Out of the corner of her eye Jessica glimpsed movement off to her right - another armed man likely one of Romanov's goons appeared behind a dumpster in the shadows. She was surrounded.
"Surrender the research data and prototypes and you walk," he slowly advanced thumbing back the hammer on his firearm. "This is your only chance before those third-rate terrorist morons beat us to it. Partner with me and my associates like you should have from the start and we can make you richer than Midas while shaping a new world order -"
CRACK! The gunshot's roar split the air as the side door of the building burst open behind Jessica. She instinctively hit the ground as two masked figures boiled out both wielding assault rifles painted flat black. Romanov spun cursing launching two wild shots before breaking for cover as his concealed man emerged firing blindly through the smoking dumpster. Jessica scrambled on her belly through patches of crackling frostbite weeds groping for the chain link fence's bottom edge as a warzone erupted around her.
When the hailstorm of bullets momentarily subsided she flattened herself gasping against a gap in the chain links peering toward the facility entrance with blurred vision. Romanov was pinned in one direction leaning out to taunt the gunmen clinging to the doorway's shielding frame. His partner traded pot shots from behind the dumpster angled to provide crossfire. The standoff stretched into drawn tense seconds of baited silence again.
Then one of the masked men cocked his head listening. With startling speed he snapped off two precise bursts through the windshield of a nearby parked van - Romanov's getaway car. Its gas tank instantly became an atmospheric fireball engulfing the entire side lot in searing whoosh. Even from thirty yards away the wave of heat beat against Jessica's face like a furnace. Romanov howled in fury unleashing his final rounds toward the lab entrance in a reckless desperation play before fleeing back into the tree line. His surviving henchman briefly returned fire then broke off sprinting in retreat behind his master.
Within seconds the only sounds were cracks of smaller flames still licking at the van's charred skeleton in the ashen night air. The two enigmatic gunmen wordlessly turned their masked gazes toward Jessica cowering against the fence. One unhitched a small cylinder from his belt slowly approaching until she could make out the canister's biohazard label. When he tossed it over the railings she cringed bracing herself.
Instead of a noxious gas billowing out only a swirling holographic blueprint took shape showing a honeycomb network of circuits and complicated renderings. The hologram froze rotating in the air beside Jessica. Next a scrambled voice emitter obscured to sound robotic:
"The data is corrupt. Safeguards have been implemented to prevent detonation. But only Dr. Riviera possesses the full decryption key to disable the remaining prototypes before-"
It stopped abruptly as one of the shrouded figures pulled Jessica to her feet though the chain links with surprising gentleness. She searched their masked eyes in stunned silence realizing who they were.
The second figure swept the perimeter aiming their rifle ready for further threats before speaking with a familiar voice modulator.
"You were right to reach out for help this time Doctor. We've made certain mistakes in the past allowing creations to fall into the wrong hands with catastrophic consequences. But your actions here today show there's still hope for humanity to get things right."
Jessica took a long breath finally nodding. Placing her faith in these mysterious saviors was her only path to redemption.
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