The cryo-pods hissed open forty-eight hours later.
Dominic gasped first, convulsing—then steadied.
Beside him, Aria's eyelids fluttered. Her lips moved.
A single fractured syllable escaped:
“Hope."
Then—silence again.
Her voice failed completely.
But her eyes were lucid.
And alive.
Mara hovered overhead, scanning vitals. “Both stable. No rejection markers. The serums… held."
Dominic stared at Aria. “You're here."
She nodded once and mouthed: **Still.**
Then alarms erupted.
**ALERT: PERIMETER BREACH – LAB 3.**
Mara's face drained of color. “They're in."
Drones exploded through the corridor doors, shattering glass, steam hissing behind them. Celeste followed, clad in thermal armor, a pistol in one hand and the mind-harvest rig in the other.
“End of the line, Dominic," she sai
