Oh God.
Hannah closes her eyes briefly.
The girl’s voice cracks harder now.
“You said nobody cared.”
That one hits every single person in the corridor.
Because that’s the real horror of Ascension.
Not the weapons.
Not the conditioning.
Not even the torture.
Convincing children they were unwanted.
Wu finally answers.
Cold again.
“Compassion creates weakness.”
The teenage boy slowly rises beside the girl.
And for the first time—
there’s anger in his eyes.
Real anger.
Not conditioning.
Human emotion.
“No,” he says quietly.
His grip tightens on the rifle.
“You were just afraid of it.”
That does it.
Every light in the corridor suddenly flashes blood red.
Emergency lockdown alarms SCREAM through the bunker.
Gabriel looks at the monitor.
“Oh hell.”
“What now?” Russ snaps.
Gabriel stares at the screen in disbelief.
“He sealed the lower command sector.”
