Oh God.
Tears blur my vision instantly.
“You were there with me.”
Gabriel nods once.
Jaw tight.
“I tried to get you out.”
Wu’s expression darkens.
“He destabilized her progress repeatedly.”
“She was a child!”
Gabriel’s roar shakes the tunnel.
“She cried herself sick after your conditioning sessions!”
The Sentinel operatives behind Wu visibly tense now.
Not aggressive.
Uneasy.
One of them lowers his rifle slightly.
Another shifts backward.
Tiny fractures in perfect discipline.
Because they’re hearing this too.
And some of them remember.
Wu notices immediately.
Danger flashes through his eyes.
“Reinforce suppression protocols.”
Suppression.
The word twists my stomach violently.
Gabriel laughs harshly.
“There it is.” He gestures toward the operatives. “You hearing this? He still thinks we’re machines.”
We.
Not them.
We.
Another operative hesitates.
