The stairwell descended into chaos. Hundreds of people moved downward in a panicked but orderly flow, their faces illuminated by the red emergency lighting. Adrian moved among them like a ghost, Thomas staying close, both men acutely aware that their world had just fractured beyond recognition.
Adrian didn't open the video file. He couldn't. His hands were already trembling too much to hold the phone steady. Instead, he forced himself to think, to analyze, to separate emotion from logic—the one skill that years of medical training had ingrained so deeply that it persisted even as everything fell apart.
The fire alarm was still blaring. Fire trucks were already audible in the distance, their sirens growing louder. The evacuation would draw police presence, would create chaos in the street
