“Welcome. I’ve been assigned to guide you through the facility.”
He gestures toward the main building.
“This way, please.”
I follow him across the courtyard, forcing my pace to remain steady even though every instinct in my body is screaming.
Ellie is here.
Somewhere inside this place.
And for the first time since she disappeared, I’m finally close enough to reach her.
The moment I enter the lab, my eyes lock onto her across the wide expanse of space. She doesn’t see me yet. The sight hits me like a physical blow. Ellie isn’t restrained, not hiding, not desperate. She is in command. Leading a small team of analysts, issuing instructions with calm, unshakable authority. Every gesture is precise, measured, confident.
She looks powerful. Indomitable. Alive in a way I haven’t seen since before all of this started.
This is what she’s always wanted. She belongs here. She fits.
My chest tightens anyway, a mix of awe and fear. She’s thriving without me, and yet I know I’m here to bring her home. To her, I may be a ghost hovering on the edge of this world she’s built.
“You see it, too, don’t you?”
I turn, and there’s Katerina, standing a few paces away. Calm, composed—unshaken by my presence. No surprise in her eyes, only that calculated patience she always carries.
The staff member guiding me steps aside and nods toward her. “Boss, this is the analyst we’ve been waiting for.”
Katerina smiles, a subtle, knowing curve of her lips. “Thank you, Horace. You may go.”
He bows, head low, and leaves without a word.
Katerina turns back to me, her eyes assessing, almost amused. “I’ve been expecting you,” she says softly. “I knew you’d come. And look at her—your wife. She’s exceeding every expectation.”
Her words land deliberately, carrying the weight of admiration and a warning wrapped into one. The implication is unmistakable: Ellie isn’t just surviving. She fits here. She belongs. And if I’m not careful, I may realize that this world she’s building…could outgrow even me.
I turn to look at Ellie again, and in that moment, she glances up from across the lab. Our eyes meet. For a brief second, neither of us moves.
Then the facility alarms begin to blare.
Ellie’s face registers panic before she bolts down the nearest corridor. Katerina curses under her breath and motions sharply to one of her guards.
“Seize him.”
Four hefty guards converge on me immediately, their movements precise and disciplined. I ram my shoulder into the first, knocking him sideways into a bank of monitors. The second swings a baton—I catch it, twist it from his grip, and shove him into the third. The fourth comes from behind, but I pivot, elbowing him into the wall as sparks fly from a shorted outlet.
Even as I fight, I catch a glimpse of Katerina sprinting alongside Ellie, her expression tight with controlled fury. My pulse accelerates. I can’t let them escape.
I push through the pain in my arms and shoulders, taking down one guard after another, each movement calculated andbrutal. My eyes lock on Ellie, weaving through the corridors ahead, and I realize: I have to reach her—no matter what it takes.
Chapter 27 – Ellie
My fingers fly over the keyboard as I try to assess the damage. The screens flash red, warnings cascading faster than I can read. Every server hums with tension, and I can feel the heat radiating through the room. All I can do now is think fast and work with what I have.
I hadn’t anticipated the system failing this quickly. The cascading bomb I built was designed as leverage for my escape—not immediate destruction. Yet somehow, it has activated ahead of schedule.
Samantha’s modifications are to blame. Her changes were deeper, more invasive than I realized, creating instability.
The lab has descended into controlled chaos. Analysts shout at one another, scrambling to isolate corrupted sectors, trying desperately to save data that’s already compromised.
