The machine screamed before I could stop it.
Red warning lights flooded the underground lab, flashing across the steel walls like a heartbeat gone wrong. My hands froze above the control panel. Something was interfering with the system.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Veronica,” Vordon said sharply behind me. “What’s happening?” His voice carried tension, but also something else now. Trust. It felt strange hearing it from him.
“I don’t know yet,” I replied, forcing my fingers to keep moving. “But someone just accessed the system.” Fear crawled into my chest. Not panic. Not yet. But a cold awareness that something had gone wrong.
Dr. Sienna Cross leaned over another console, face pale in the glow of the monitors.
“That’s impossible,” she muttered. “This lab isn’t connected to any out
