The desert station's main room had become a sanctuary of fragile hope.
Axel stared at the data drive in his hand, the master key to the Ghost Protocol. It was small, barely larger than his thumb, but it held the power to save or destroy the world. The weight of it pressed down on him, heavy and suffocating.
"We need to deactivate the Protocol," he said, his voice flat. "Before the Ascendancy can use it against us."
"How do we do that?" Vance asked. "We have the key, but we don't know where the Protocol is stored."
"I know where it is," Zayn said, stepping forward. "The Ghost Protocol is stored in a facility in the mountains. It's called the Obsidian Vault. It's the Ascendancy's most secure location."
Axel's eyes narrowed. "The Obsidian Vault? We've been there before."
"That was a dec
