The first pod opened with a hiss.
Then another.
Then fifty.
Each sound was a metallic gasp, followed by the low thrum of awakening—the Archive’s endless rows of glass cylinders releasing their contents in synchronized rhythm. Steam rolled across the metal floor like smoke crawling from the mouth of hell.
Kiera dragged Leon toward the nearest terminal, her boots slipping on the slick floor. “Leon, tell me you can stop this.”
He forced himself upright, bracing one bloodied hand against the console. His vision blurred, static swimming around the edges of his sight. “Not without killing everyone inside those pods.”
“They’re not people anymore!” she snapped, pointing. “Look!”
The first awakened subjects staggered out of their pods, skin pale and wet, eyes glowing faintly gold—the same hu
