Chapter Twenty-Three
Purity personnel rushed toward Olesya.
There was no turning back.
They reached her, the fire alarm wailing behind them. She slowed to a walk as they filtered past her; in her red goggles and Preserver robes, she was dressed to blend with the baseline.
She kept moving.
Hitting the pressel switch on her robe’s collar, she spoke to Ark. ‘Where are you?’
‘Fighting through the evacuation,’ he said. ‘I’m not inside yet.’
Olesya’s smartwatch showed Jay’s heart rate was unusually low now.
‘Just stay out,’ she said. ‘Guide me to Jay.’
‘You’re serious? You need backup.’
‘I am the backup.’
‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘I’ll get the spare laptop.’
There was shouting behind her now. Not panicked, but authoritative, and getting closer. Her watch couldn’t translate above the noise
