“Violence from emotionally compromised subjects is expected.”
Russ mutters beside me:
“I cannot wait to kill this guy.”
Same.
Very same.
Hannah ignores Wu completely now.
Her attention stays on the teenagers.
“There are children upstairs.”
The boy says nothing.
Hannah’s voice softens carefully.
“They’re scared.”
The girl’s grip tightens slightly on her rifle.
Fear flashes across her face again.
Fast.
Buried.
But there.
Hannah sees it too.
And presses harder.
“You know what he does to children who are afraid.”
The corridor goes dead silent.
The teenage boy’s jaw tightens almost imperceptibly.
Tiny crack in the conditioning.
Wu notices instantly.
“Emotional contamination detected.”
Every fluorescent light in the corridor suddenly shifts red.
Alarm tones pulse overhead.
The teenagers physically tense.
Training response.
Automatic.
Wu’s voice sharpens for the first time since entering the bunker.
