I look at the terrified teenagers.
The shaking hands.
The blank conditioning cracking apart right in front of us.
And I realize something important.
Wu built obedience.
Not loyalty.
These children were never loyal to him.
They were afraid.
“Yes,” I whisper.
I trust them.
Clay notices immediately.
And somehow—
that look in his eyes nearly breaks me all over again.
Pride.
Not fear of what I used to be.
Pride in who I became.
Wu’s voice lowers dangerously now.
“You are making a catastrophic mistake, Hannah.”
“No,” I say softly.
“You did.”
The bunker suddenly lurches violently sideways.
Concrete cracks thunder through the walls.
Dust explodes from ceiling vents.
The reactor is destabilizing faster.
Gabriel checks the monitor again.
“Oh no.”
Russ turns sharply.
“What now?”
Gabriel looks pale.
“The coolant systems are failing.”
