[Jake's POV]
Isabella Vane's mountain fortress was a jarring contrast to the brutal wilderness outside. The corridors were pristine, sterile, and blindingly white, illuminated by recessed LED lighting. It looked like the headquarters of a tech giant.
But the men patrolling the halls were definitely not software engineers.
We moved through the subterranean levels with terrifying, methodical precision. Without Oracle to map the blind spots in the security cameras, we had to rely on Darius's extensive military experience. We hugged the walls, timing our movements to the rhythmic panning of the automated lenses, slipping through the sterile corridors like phantoms.
"The architecture is modular," Darius whispered, his eyes scanning the seamless white walls as we paused at a T-intersection. "Blast doors recessed into the ceiling every fifty meters. If the compound goes into lockdown, this entire level compartmentalizes into sealed kill boxes."
