The klaxons drowned out everything.
INTRUDER RELEASE.
CONTAINMENT BREACH.
SQUAD A TO SECTOR SIX.
Mara felt each announcement like a punch to the ribs. The metal floors vibrated under her palms as she knelt beside Ten, who stood trembling, water dripping from her hair like rain.
Daniel grabbed her arm, voice hoarse from fear.
"Mara, listen to me—this is the retrieval division. They're not like the guards. They shoot first. Ask never."
She didn't move.
Her hand stayed on Ten's shoulder.
The girl's skin burned with a feverish heat, like she was lit from the inside.
"She's going into neural overload," Daniel continued.
"If they trigger the suppression dampeners, it'll kill her. We need to leave. Now."
Ten's eyes snapped to him.
"No," she whispered, a second voice bubbling under her own.
"You leave. Mara stays."
Mara's pulse slammed in her ears.
"Ten—"
"You said you wouldn't let them take me."
Her voice trembled.
"You promised."
Daniel swore under his breath.
"Mara, she's unstable. She could tear this room apart. You don't understand—"
Mara rounded on him.
"No. I do understand. She's like me. She didn't choose to be made."
"She's not like you," Daniel snapped, eyes desperate.
"Her brain is synthetic—accelerated. She was meant to be a failsafe, a living tool. If she loses control—"
"She's a child."
"She's a weapon."
Ten's breathing quickened.
The lights above them flickered—once, twice—then snapped to black before flaring to life again in rapid, panicked stutters.
The hum in Mara's skull grew louder.
"Stop arguing," Ten whispered.
Metal clamps shook on the nearby tables.
The room vibrated.
"She's going to spike!" Daniel shouted.
"We need distance!"
Mara stayed kneeling, both hands on Ten's arms now.
"Hey," she whispered. "Look at me. Just me."
Ten's eyes were full of fear and something deeper—
something ancient, confused, stolen.
"They're coming," she breathed.
"They want me back in the dark."
"We won't let them," Mara said.
Daniel's voice cut sharply:
"Mara—if you stay, we ALL die."
The hall lights at the far end suddenly cut out.
Boots thundered in the darkness.
Retrieval squad.
Their shadows stretched across the wall before their bodies even appeared.
Ten stiffened.
"No," she said again, voice shaking.
"No no no nononono—"
"Mara!" Daniel grabbed her shoulder.
"That's it. Her neural field is peaking. Another second and—"
The ceiling tiles above them exploded, blown outward by an invisible shockwave. Dust rained down in a choking cloud.
Ten screamed—
a raw, broken sound that echoed both in the air and inside Mara's skull.
The lights burst.
Every single one.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The retrieval squad shouted commands in the corridor—
something about "Prototype Ten loose" and "shoot if necessary."
Daniel pulled Mara hard toward the emergency hatch on the left wall.
"MARA, MOVE!"
But Ten's small fingers tightened around her wrist.
"Mara," she whispered.
"I don't want to go back."
Her voice was tiny.
Terrified.
Human.
Mara's heart split.
Daniel's grip tightened.
"Mara, for the love of god—choose. NOW."
The hallway began filling with armored shadows.
Gun barrels glinted in their hands.
Ten trembled violently.
Glowing veins pulsed under her skin.
She was seconds from unleashing something none of them could survive.
Mara's throat closed.
Her mind tore itself in two:
Stay with Ten — and risk dying with her.
or
Run with Daniel — and let them drag Ten back into the dark.
Ten's eyes, the same shape as hers, stared into her soul.
"I'll be good," Ten whispered.
"I'll be good if you stay."
Daniel's voice was a desperate rasp:
"Please—Mara—choose us. Choose LIFE."
The retrieval squad raised their rifles.
A laser sight crossed Ten's forehead.
She didn't even flinch.
"Mara…"
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"Please."
And Mara finally—
CHOOSES.
She pulled Ten into her arms—
Daniel choked out, "Mara, NO—"
The retrieval squad opened fire.
Ten screamed.
The room erupted in white light.
A shockwave blasted outward like a hurricane of sound and pressure.
Windows shattered.
Monitors exploded.
Metal tore from its bolts.
The squad was thrown like rag dolls.
Daniel was slammed into a wall, knocked breathless.
Mara felt herself lifted off the floor—
and everything went white.