He does understand.
I look at him.
“What tactical problem?”
Nobody answers fast enough.
Which is answer enough.
Fear crawls up my spine.
Gabriel finally speaks.
“If Sentinel conditioned emotional dependency into operatives…”
He trails off.
Doesn’t finish.
Doesn’t need to.
I stare at Clay.
“No.”
Clay immediately shakes his head.
“No. He’s lying to you.”
But uncertainty flashes through the tunnel now anyway.
Not in Clay.
In everyone else.
Lucas.
Miles.
Even Russ.
Not because they doubt Clay.
Because they’re realizing Sentinel might have weaponized human attachment itself.
Wu folds his hands behind his back calmly.
“Human loyalty is predictable when properly cultivated.”
“You’re talking about people like they’re machines,” I whisper.
“No, Hannah.” Wu’s gaze settles on me again. “I’m talking about survival.”
He gestures lightly around the tunnel.
“The world outside Sentinel created children like you every day. Traumatized. Forgotten. Disposable.”
Every word lands too close to something broken inside me.
