They found the exit without resistance.
The path back didn't fight them the way the descent had. Doors opened on the first attempt. Power stayed stable. The systems that had tested them earlier stayed quiet, as if whatever needed to see them had already made its decision. Arlen noticed it too, even if she didn't comment on it. Places like this didn't become cooperative by accident.
They moved upward through the service corridors and back into sections that felt closer to the prison they knew. Cleaner walls. Standard lighting. Familiar hums. The weight in the air eased slightly, enough to tell them they were no longer off the map.
Then, the lift carried them upward in silence, the hum of old machinery steady and uncomplaining as it pulled them back toward sections the prison still pretended it fully controlled.
When the doors opened, the lighting changed immediately. Cleaner panels. Newer materials. Systems that answered when Arlen's interface touched them.
