The Ashen Circle didn't do anything halfway once the decision was made.
Within two days of the breach, the facility had mobilized a small task force, equipment crates stacked in the courtyard, vehicles idling in a line that stretched back toward the mountain entrance. Victor watched it all from the doorway, still faintly sore from the memory extraction, and felt the scale of it settle over him like a physical weight.
"This is a lot," Caleb said beside him, similarly wide-eyed.
"They're taking it seriously," Nyx said.
"They're taking it seriously enough to bring an army."
"Not an army," Ashworth said, appearing behind them with Corvin and Wren in tow. "A containment team. There's a difference, though I understand why it might not look like one from where you're standing."
"What's the difference?" Victor asked.
