The lock clicked again.
Not opening.
Confirming.
A second layer.
Like the system wanted them to hear it—feel it understand exactly where they stood.
Contained.
The girl took a slow step back, her voice barely steady. "Okay… doors locked, system talking, simulations running… are we officially in the worst-case scenario now?"
"No," Victor said.
A pause.
"This is just the beginning of it."
That didn't help.
At all.
Dante didn't look at the doors.
Didn't test them.
Didn't react.
Because his attention was still on the console.
Watching.
Waiting.
Reading patterns that weren't obvious to anyone else.
"It's not rushing," he said.
Camille's voice came low. "Why would it?"
A beat.
"It already has control of the environment."
The girl swallowed. "Yeah, I hate how calm that sounds."
Victor stepped beside Dante now, eyes scanning the data.
"What's the first move?" he asked.
Dante's gaze didn't shift.
"It's already made it."
Silence.
Then
The lights flickered.
Once.
