Desperation flashes hard across his face.
“No…”
Good.
Let him feel helpless.
Gabriel lifts the drives slightly.
“It’s over.”
Wu stares at the data like it’s more horrifying than death itself.
Because maybe to him it is.
Exposure.
Truth.
Consequences.
The bunker suddenly rumbles violently again.
Russ checks the structural monitor.
“We need to move now.”
Right.
The reactor stabilized.
But Ascension itself is still collapsing underground.
Concrete cracks split across the reactor chamber walls.
Steam pours from ruptured pipes.
We’re out of time.
Russ moves toward Wu.
“You walking?”
Wu slowly looks up at him.
Then smiles faintly.
“No.”
Before any of us realize what he’s doing—
Wu throws himself backward against the damaged reactor railing.
The metal finally gives way.
The entire section snaps apart beneath him.
“HANNAH!” Clay shouts.
