“The coolant wheel moved!”
Hope slams into me so hard it physically hurts.
Pressure levels begin dropping slowly across the reactor screens.
Not enough yet.
But moving.
“Hannah keep going!” Gabriel shouts.
The response comes weak through the comm.
“I’m trying…”
God.
She sounds exhausted.
The countdown flashes:
00:00:42
The bunker starts collapsing faster now.
Huge chunks of ceiling crash into the reactor chamber.
Emergency lights burst overhead.
Steam and smoke fill the air.
Wu suddenly starts laughing again.
Broken.
Unstable.
“You’re all going to die here.”
Maybe.
But not those kids.
Never those kids.
Gabriel suddenly shouts:
“Pressure stabilizing!”
“Almost there!”
Then—
the lower chamber alarms abruptly change tone.
Sharp.
Urgent.
