The harmonious wave struck, and lightning arced across the sky.
All of Acheron's electronics blew, opening a great shower of sparks. Silas screamed, clawing at his ears as the frequency burst through his augmented nervous system. All across the globe, beacons pulsed in unison, stringing together neural paths in each victim at Phase Two, including Ryan, whose body convulsed at Lena's feet.
But the baby - oh God, the baby - was screaming too; her tiny body was shining with the luminescence of a live wire.
Sophie burst onto the deck, her nose bleeding from system overload. "The sequence was incomplete! It's treating her like a Phase Two subject!"
Lena pressed her daughter to her chest, humming Margaret's lullaby as the crests of power roiled through. The baby's cries softened; the glowing veins dimmed; and then...
Silence.
Ryan again felt Lena's hand in his. His eyes fluttered open for the first time in days and were seeking clarity.
"Lena?"
Silas' body lay still on the deck, his face frozen in a rictus of agonizing torment. The lighthouse beams flickered out one by one.
Sophie whispered into the sudden quiet, "It worked. The harmonic only targeted the augmented neural grafts. The natural brain tissue ...".
Ryan sat up, pulling Lena and the baby into his arms. His voice, raw but strong, said, 'We built something that lasts.'