“And once we’re in?” she asks.
“We go straight to the data core,” I say. “Pull everything we can, expose it before they can bury it again.”
“And if they catch us?” she presses.
“They will,” I reply without hesitation.
She blinks at that, then lets out a breath.
“Good,” she mutters. “At least you’re honest about it.”
“We don’t need to get out clean,” I add. “We just need to get it out.”
Her gaze sharpens.
“That’s not good enough,” she says. “We’re not dying in there.”
“I’m not planning on it,” I reply. “But I’m not pretending it’s not a possibility either.”
She holds my gaze for a long second, something shifting behind her eyes as she weighs it.
“You really think this is the only way,” she says.
“Yeah,” I answer. “I do.”
The silence stretches between us, not empty, but heavy with everything that decision carries.
Then she nods.
“Alright,” she says.
That’s it.
No hesitation.
No argument.
Just—
Acceptance.
“You’re in?” I ask.
She huffs a breath, something almost like a tired laugh slipping through.
“I’ve been in,” she says. “You just finally caught up.”
I shake my head slightly, something tightening in my chest that I don’t bother unpacking.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “That sounds about right.”
She steps past me, moving deeper into the tunnel, her pace steadier now despite everything.
“Then let’s move,” she says over her shoulder. “Before they decide to start checking down here too.”
I push off the wall and fall into step beside her, the path ahead narrowing again as it pulls us closer to the heart of Myrza.
And this time?—
