The entire facility went silent.
Not naturally.
Artificially.
Like the building itself had stopped breathing.
The white emergency lights flickered overhead in cold pulses while Ariadne's face glitched violently across every screen in the corridor.
Dante stared upward slowly.
"Who's awake?"
But deep down
Camille didn't think he needed the answer anymore.
Because the expression on his face had already changed.
Recognition.
Fear.
Real fear.
Ariadne's voice came quieter now.
"He was never inside the system, Dante."
Victor's typing abruptly stopped through the comms.
"What?"
The screens flickered again.
Then Ariadne whispered
"He built it."
A cold feeling spread through Camille's chest instantly.
No.
No no no.
Elena's eyes narrowed sharply.
"The Architect."
Vivian remained silent beside the wall.
Which somehow felt worse than panic.
Dante's voice lowered dangerously.
"I watched him die."
Ariadne looked at him sadly.
