“They called it restoration.”
God help me.
Clay. Breathe.
Breathe before you start shooting walls.
The alarms suddenly stop.
Every red emergency light freezes.
Then shifts.
White.
Clean.
Clinical.
And Wu’s voice returns one final time.
“You are approaching restricted levels.”
Calm as ever.
Like he’s welcoming guests to dinner.
“Security teams have been instructed to use lethal force.”
Russ smirks coldly.
“That’s cute.”
Wu ignores him.
“Hannah.”
Her body goes rigid beside me.
“You once believed in Ascension.”
I immediately step closer to her.
Wu keeps talking.
“You understood humanity’s flaws better than the others ever could.”
Hannah’s face hardens.
“I was a child.”
“A gifted child.”
That does it.
I grab the nearest speaker off the wall and slam it against concrete hard enough plastic explodes everywhere.
“You keep talking about children like they’re weapons.”
