Fast.
Closing in.
Wu notices too.
His eyes return to Hannah one final time.
“You are experiencing memory fragmentation because your mind is attempting to reconnect suppressed architecture.”
Hannah’s breathing turns uneven again.
Too fast.
Too shallow.
“Stop talking to her!” I snap.
Wu ignores me completely.
“You were our greatest success.”
“No…”
“You survived every phase.”
“No.”
“You adapted beyond projection.”
“STOP!”
Hannah screams it so loudly the tunnel echoes.
And suddenly—
she drops.
Not unconscious.
Worse.
She grabs her head and collapses to her knees with a cry of pain so raw it punches straight through my chest.
“Hannah!”
I drop beside her instantly.
Her whole body shakes violently beneath my hands.
Blood trickles from her nose.
Jesus Christ.
Her pupils are blown wide.
Like something is tearing through her mind from the inside.
The lights above us flicker rapidly.
