Marcus leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. "Calm down. He probably just slacked off somewhere. Everyone knows what a lazy professor he is."
Ezra, unusually tense, didn't respond with his usual smirk. "I don't think so," he muttered, his voice low. He took a slow breath, trying to steady his nerves. "Either way, we need to move. Something's not right."
He turned sharply to Daelen. "Call for backup."
Daelen nodded and pulled out his communicator—but just as he tried to connect, the screen blinked once and went dead.
"What the hell?" Daelen frowned. "My network's gone."
Ezra's eyes narrowed. "Let me see yours," he said, turning to Dravis.
Dravis took out his phone. A second later, his expression darkened. "No signal either."
Ezra's jaw tightened. He reached for his own phone—same result. No bars. No connection. Just a dead line where the signal should've been.
Then something clicked.
His eyes widened. "RUN!" he shouted.
