The lab was quiet, save for the low hum of the quantum battery prototype in its containment chamber. Dr. Lin Wei adjusted her glasses, her eyes fixed on the monitor. The numbers were perfect—energy output beyond anything humanity had ever achieved. A single charge could power a city for a month.

“We’re ready,” she whispered into her headset.

In Brussels, Dr. Elena Marceau watched the same data stream on her screen. Her jaw tightened. “They’re ahead of us,” she said to her assistant, her French accent sharp with frustration. “We need that catalyst formula.”

Across the globe, in a high-rise in Seattle, Dr. Adam Carter leaned back in his chair, a smug grin spreading across his face as he scrolled through intercepted emails from Lin Wei’s team. His tech was close but not close enough. Not until now.

Lin’s lab was impenetrable, or so she thought. Deep underground in Shanghai, it was surrounded by cutting-edge security—thermal sensors, biometric locks, and AI surveillance. But tonight, she felt uneasy. She glanced at the lab’s only window, a thick pane of glass overlooking the Huangpu River. Shadows moved where none should.

“System scan,” she ordered.

No anomalies. Yet Lin’s instincts screamed otherwise. She tapped into the lab’s internal cameras and froze. A figure in black was in the containment chamber, hands moving over the prototype.

“How—” Lin began, but the feed cut off.

Miles away, in a nondescript van, Elena’s team watched the data upload. “We’re in,” her hacker confirmed. She allowed herself a rare smile. The EU’s energy program would leap forward, while Lin’s team would be left chasing ghosts.

Except the ghost was real. Adam Carter, perched in a rented apartment in Shanghai, was watching the same footage. His mole had tipped him off about tonight’s operation. As Elena’s team siphoned Lin’s data, Adam was siphoning it from them.

But Lin wasn’t done. She had suspected espionage for weeks and planted false data in the system. As the intruder fled with the hard drive, Lin activated the override. The prototype surged, its containment field destabilizing.

In Brussels, Elena’s smile vanished as corrupted files flooded her system. “Abort,” she barked, but it was too late.

In Seattle, Adam’s screen flickered, then went black. He slammed his fist on the desk. “Damn it!”

Lin leaned back in her chair, her heart pounding. She had stopped them—for now. But she knew the war wasn’t over. Somewhere, her adversaries were already planning their next move.

And so was she. The future of clean energy would be a battle of wits, and Lin was determined to win, no matter the cost.