The system did not respond as Ethan expected.
That was the first thing that unsettled him.
He stood in front of the central console, eyes fixed on streams of data moving across the screens with unnatural calm. There was no chaos. No resistance. Everything flowed too smoothly.
It felt controlled.
Sophia stood beside him, watching carefully. “It is letting us in,” she said.
Ethan did not answer at once. His fingers hovered above the interface. For the first time since they entered the facility, he hesitated.
“Or it wants us to think that,” he said quietly.
Behind them, the door closed with a soft sound. Not locked. Just shut.
Marcus turned slightly. “No alarms. No lockdown. Nothing. That is wrong.”
“Yes,” Ethan said. “Very wrong.”
He touched the console.
The display shifted.
Laye
