Nicole's eyes were enormous—pupils blown so wide they looked black.
"So… you can go back?" she asked, voice small and fragile, clinging to the one thread of hope she could find. "To our time? To before everything fell apart? Before the storms… before the hunger…?"
Angela's smile softened—just a fraction—something almost maternal flickering behind the cruelty.
"Well… the technology still isn't mature," she admitted, voice gentling. "The first jumps were one-way. We're still working on stable return gates. It might be possible someday—maybe years, maybe decades. But honestly…"
She tightened her arms around me, pressing her cheek to mine.
"I don't care anymore," she whispered. "Anywhere Dexter is… that's my world. I'd rather be here—with him, with all of you—than go back to a dying planet just to watch it end again."
Lisa—standing near the entrance—didn't offer her opinion. She simply tapped her earpiece again and spoke quietly, professionally.
"Boss… they're all here."
