I woke up.
This simple fact was so unexpected, so contrary to what I was certain would happen, that for several minutes I couldn't process it. I was supposed to be dead. The self-destruct sequence should have vaporized everyone in the server chamber. But instead, I was lying in a hospital bed in what appeared to be a civilian hospital room, with no visible injuries, and absolutely no idea how that could be possible.
The door opened, and Helena entered. She looked exhausted, aged by several years in the hours since we entered the facility. She smiled when she saw me awake, the first genuine smile I had seen from her since we met.
"You're alive," she said simply.
"I shouldn't be. The device—"
"The device worked," Helena interrupted. "But not the way we expected. When Marcus activated th
