The end of Region T had officially begun, and the facility reacted the way a dying human did…too late, too loud, and with no idea where the teeth were.
Alarms rose into a single long scream that bounced off white walls and stainless rails. Red lights strobed through the ruined chamber, painting the melted guards in fresh color every second.
And somewhere beyond the door, boots hit the floor in a running cadence that was still organized enough to think it meant something.
Aerenyx stood beside her as if none of it mattered.
The lab coat hanging off his shoulders was too small for him now, torn at the seams, wet at the cuffs, and he wore it anyway like a joke he didn't bother explaining.
When he breathed, the very air around them seemed to change. It thickened in a way her creature could taste, a sweet rot that wasn't trying to spread fast so much as simply existing too strongly for anything human to survive in.
