The screen blinked with the glowing timer —16:42:18"EVOLUTION OR EXTINCTION."
The room spun.
Adrian couldn't breathe.
Ethan was already moving.
The image of Mathew — loyal, calm, quiet Mathew — stabbing a needle into the control panel of the antidote vault, then walking away like nothing happened… it didn't make sense.
Ethan's jaw was tight, his entire body wound with the tension of a man who had spent too many years holding back rage. But now, that control shattered.
He grabbed a comms device from the hall.
"Emergency lockdown, Section A through G. Override all internal clearance. Priority Alpha. This is Ethan Levistis."
Adrian stood frozen, mind whirring. "Mathew's still in the manor. He wouldn't run — not without finishing what he came for."
Cain was already on his phone too, voice clipped as he ordered the perimeter teams into motion. Augustin and Leclair drew their weapons from hidden compartments in the wall.
