Vincent clenched his jaw, heat rising in his chest
"We cannot keep pretending to be noble while stumbling blindly in the dark," he argued. "We have a torch in our hands, and you refuse to turn it on."
Ivy met his gaze without flinching.
"My principles are clear," she replied. "Any experiment that requires harming a human will never happen in my base."
Vincent let out a sharp breath. "If that is the case, then I would like to leave."
The declaration hung heavily in the air.
Ivy fell silent. Some of the researchers exchanged glances, relief flashing across their faces.
'She's backing down,' they thought.
Encouraged, a few of them stepped forward.
"If Vincent leaves, we will leave too," one of them said.
Others quickly followed, nodding in agreement as if swept up by momentum rather than conviction.
Ivy watched their sudden unity. Then... She chuckled.
The soft sound sent a strange chill through the room.
