The Million-Dollar Heart

Barnaby chuckled, a hint of steely resolve behind his humor. "I choose to have the chip removed even if it means I have to be conscious during the process."

No matter the pain, she refused to let someone else dictate the course of her life!

"The chip is currently lodged in your brain, and I'll be performing the surgery with my mom. We'll keep chatting with you throughout, and you'll even hear and feel us poking around in your noggin, so brace yourself."

It sounded simple enough, but only those who have been through it knew the agony was beyond any normal threshold of endurance.

It was akin to the trauma Arabella suffered after Brody and Vivienne had planted and then diffused a bomb inside her. The psychological scars were likely still unhealed.

Not that she had much time for healing.

Barnaby nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's get on with it."

Time was of the essence. The chip could travel through her bloodstream to any part of her body.

Noah had met his end when a similar chip had migrated near his heart. Barnaby was luckier; the chip was near her stomach when Karen intervened, sparing her life.

But now the chip had moved to his brain, and if F-Poison struck again, it would be too late.

Soon, Barnaby was wheeled back into the OR, with Karen and Vivienne scrubbing in together.

Throughout the procedure, Barnaby's eyes remained open. She could feel the drill and other surgical instruments stirring inside her skull, each nerve echoing the whine of the drill, her glands vibrating with every movement.

The sensation was indescribable.

If she had to label it, 'terrifying' would be a vast understatement.

"When was this chip put in? Can it track our location?" Barnaby inquired, curious despite the circumstances.

her gaze fixed on the screen displaying Barnaby's brain scan. Karen, manipulating the scalpel, added, "The chip can track and explode inside the body, undetectable even to

said, "I can't recall anything. Maybe we ingested

Karen agreed, nodding at

a chip without noticing?"

then slowly assemble its particles inside the body." Pausing, Karen mused, "That's a promising lead. We should engineer something similar. Imagine being

market booming, who could resist a device that pinpoints your pet's location? We could even link it to the pet's retina, offering a pet's-eye view of the world," Vivienne rambled on, already hearing the cash register in

her casual question to spark such

were quite the pair-money-minded through

I see it!"

successfully extracted

Barnaby slipped into

to be okay?" Caspian asked, concern

fine. She just needs some sleep, and my mom ensured she won't remember any of

Madam, thank you, former captain. I'm in your debt,"

years apart, it was only thanks to Vivienne and

waved off the thanks. "If you're truly grateful, go

eager. "Anything you

map appeared on the screen, dotted with numerous red points marking individual locations. Vivienne printed

for Caspian. Those red dots were the whereabouts of

"Yes, right away!"

it was

Thomas, Leopold, Soren, and their squads arrested every marked individual, using a jamming device developed by

even if F-Poison wanted to kill them now, there was no

who remained at

Agency's first major victory since the "Destruction Plan," earning Thomas, Leopold, Soren, and even