With a look of complete shock and horror on everyone's face, the silence in the room rivaled even that of a graveyard, but when realization dawned on all the elites, chaos finally erupted.
Screams and cries rang out as everyone fearfully tried to scramble for the exits.
While many of them tried to escape, Dr Moss was still frozen in shock, with his mind puzzled by what he had just seen.
'This wasn't supposed to happen.' Moss uttered in his thoughts.
'The simulations had been flawless.'
'Not once had anything like this happened before.'
'So why did it happen now?'
'What could have gone wrong?' He pondered over his possible mistakes, but then a man screamed out his name, forcing Moss out of his reflective thoughts, only to see a man seething with rage heading towards him.
"Moss!! What the hell just happened?! Didn't you say the device was safe to use?!" The man's steadily lost control of his anger as he closed the distance between him and Moss.
"I-I-I did, but it must have been a calibration issue." Dr. Moss stammered as he added. "I-I'm sure that if I am given more time, I will be able to fix this."
"Fix this?! Are you kidding me right now? Are you even listening to yourself?!!"
The male elite angrily pointed to the red puddle where Thaddeus had stood a few minutes ago. "You just killed one of the wealthiest men in the city, and you're telling me you can fix it?"
Moss opened his mouth, attempting to say something in his defense, but before he could do that, the doors to the meeting room suddenly burst open as security guards stormed in, followed by a group of men dressed in black suits.
These were the representatives of the corporate board that funded Dr. Moss's research, and each of them had a look of disappointment and cold fury on their faces.
"It's over, Moss." One of them growled. "We're shutting this project down with immediate effect."
"No, wait! You don't understand. I can…."
Moss tried to protest, but his explanations were completely ignored as two huge security officers seized him and escorted him out of the building.
Everyone left right after, but no one dared to walk close to the stopwatch, which had been abandoned on the floor.
Now, a crippling fear had sprouted in the hearts of all the elite because they had witnessed the watch murder one of their own in cold blood.
However, what everyone didn't know was that a member of Dr Moss's research team subtly took the stopwatch and hid it in her bag while the security men had been focused on evacuating the elites.
Days passed, and news of Dr Moss murdering an elite member of the city spread like wildfire.
Of course, the real reason why Thaddeus had died remained unknown to the common folk because the higher-ups didn't want the people to know about the existence of the stopwatch.
They had decided that it would be better to keep it a secret to prevent the stopwatch from being discovered and coveted.
But what they didn't expect was that a member of Dr Moss's research team would steal the stopwatch while the security men were preoccupied with evacuating everyone else out of the building.
Now, the higher-ups had no choice but to carry out a citywide search for the female who had stolen the watch, and her name was Claire Raines.
However, it took them three days before they finally discovered where she was hiding.
******
It was currently eight in the morning, but the dark clouds in the sky made it look like it was still nighttime.
This was a result of the heavy rain, hammering down on the streets of Neon City.
But while most people were busy scrambling around to find a spot to serve as shelter from the rain, Claire could be seen speeding through the streets as though her life depended on it.
Well, it actually did, and that was why Claire was running as fast as she could despite the blinding rain.
Her heart was beating heavily, and her body ached all over, but Claire didn't slow down at all, and neither did her pursuers.
"Stop! By order of the Spire Guard, you are under arrest!!"
Behind her were several armored officers with their heavy boots slamming against the ground as they chased after her.
"Stop her! She's heading for the bridge."
Their shouts continued to echo behind her, and this only hastened Claire's pace even more.
Her main goal was to leave the city, and this was because that was the only time her pursuers would stop chasing after her.
But if she were to be caught, Claire knew that everything she had been working hard for would be completely over.
As an important member of Dr Moss's research team, Claire knew the benefits she could reap if she was able to completely fix a few minor calibration issues she had noticed prior to the stopwatch unveiling.
And so, she ran as fast as she could, with each step she took making splashes as she stepped into several shallow puddles in her haste to get away.
Her long lab coat fluttered wildly behind her as she darted around a cargo truck and almost collided with a worker who was hauling crates containing sacks of grain out of it.
"Oi!" The man shouted in surprise, but Claire didn't stop running, and she couldn't stop either, because the guards were hot on her trail.
She swiftly burst onto a bridge that connected the market district to the industrial zone of the city.
The sound of thunder suddenly rumbled loudly, and Claire pushed herself to run faster, causing her boot to skid along the wet, slippery surface of the metal bridge.
"Yiahhh!!"
Claire cried out as she lost her footing and slammed her side against the metal railings, causing her to groan in agony as her right shoulder bore the impact.
"Argh!!"
Despite the pain coursing through her body, she wasn't worried about herself.
Rather, all she could think about was the small box in her pocket.
Claire swiftly brought out the box to make sure that the stopwatch was still intact.
But as she tried to stand up and lean against the bridge's railing, a huge bolt of lightning struck the metal bridge, and the shock wave sent Claire flying over to the other side of the bridge.
Consequently, Claire slammed her head on the pavement while the box in her hand flew out of her grip and dropped into the fast-moving river beneath the bridge.
The river's strong current swallowed the box instantly; meanwhile, Claire was lying on the floor, unconscious and unaware that the box she had risked so much for had fallen into the river that led to two other regions of the city.
A few moments later, the four guards finally caught up to her, only to see an unconscious Claire on the ground.
"Is she…?" One of them asked skeptically because, like everyone else, he had witnessed the lightning bolt flash in her direction, so they were not sure if she was dead or alive, but a different guard crouched down beside Claire and swiftly scanned her vitals.
"No, she's alive." He notified them.
"Good. Get her to the van. She has a lot of explaining to do." The leader of the armored guards ordered, and the rest of the guards swiftly nodded before carrying Claire into the armored van parked close by.
Their mission was to question Claire about the stopwatch she stole.
The higher-ups had ordered the stopwatch to be destroyed due to what had occurred a few days ago, but what the guards didn't know was that the stopwatch had fallen into the river that flowed all the way to not only the mid-level districts but also the slums.
However, no one could know exactly where the watch would end up.
******
Meanwhile, at the other side of the city, an area that is popularly known as the slums, the heavy rain had stopped, and it was simply drizzling right now, so everyone had gone back to what they were doing before the rain began.
The atmosphere was filled with the aroma of cheap food stalls, and a young man could be seen limping through the crowd with one arm pressed against his ribs.
Jake's shirt clung to his back, because it was damped from both sweat and rain, while his face was swollen with bruises.
But it wasn't just his face that hurt so much right now.
Every part of his body hurt like hell; therefore, every step he took caused each muscle and limb in his body to ache, but he continued to push on until he got to a small corner diner that was sandwiched between two shuttered shops.
*Sighs*
Jake sighed as he glanced at the flickering neon sign flashing above the entrance that said… "Welcome To The Sexy Cutie Diner: where customers are allowed to eat cutely and feel sexy."