The silence on Virek's side of the barrier didn't last.
It never did.
He stood there for half a second, eyes fixed on the sealed panel where Sarai had disappeared. His hand lingered slightly in the air, like the instinct to reach for her hadn't fully left yet.
Then he lowered it.
His jaw tightened once, controlled, contained.
"Sarai," he said.
No response.
Of course not.
He stepped back from the barrier and turned, shifting his focus to the corridor. The space had changed again. The angles were tighter, the lighting lower, and the air felt heavier, like the building itself was closing in around him.
Deliberate.
"He's isolating," Virek muttered as he started forward.
His pace picked up. Not rushed, but no longer as measured. There was less patience in it now.
A panel flickered along the wall as he passed. He didn't look at it. If Keller was offering anything, it wasn't meant to help him.
The hum beneath his feet deepened.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Virek slowed, his body adjusting instantly.
Not his.
He turned the corner without hesitation.
Two men stepped into view. They were already positioned, weapons raised just enough to react, not enough to commit.
Waiting.
Virek didn't.
The first man lifted his weapon fully.
Virek stepped inside the line of fire.
The shot cracked past his shoulder, close enough to feel the heat of it. His hand snapped up, catching the man's wrist mid-recoil and twisting hard. The weapon slipped free as the man's grip failed.
Virek drove his elbow into the man's throat.
The impact crushed the breath out of him instantly. Before he could recover, Virek shifted his weight and struck again—short, precise, final.
The body dropped.
The second man adjusted quickly. Smarter. He stepped back, trying to create distance.
Virek closed it.
Two steps.
That was all it took.
The man swung.
Virek slipped inside the motion, his shoulder brushing past the strike as his hand came up under the man's guard. The blade slid in clean, low and controlled.
The man's body jerked.
Virek leaned in slightly.
"Too slow."
He pulled the blade free and stepped back as the body dropped.
Silence settled again.
Virek didn't linger.
He moved.
The next corridor split into three.
He stopped for half a second.
Normally, this would be simple. Analyze. Choose. Move.
Now, something felt off.
Not the layout.
Not the structure.
The absence.
His hand flexed once at his side.
"Left," he said quietly, choosing without hesitation.
He moved.
The corridor opened into a wider space, giving him more angles and more risk.
Which meant he slowed.
Adjusted.
Keller's voice returned, smooth and controlled.
"You're moving faster now."
Virek didn't stop, but his gaze flicked upward briefly.
"You're wasting time," he said.
"Am I?"
Virek kept moving.
"She's still alive," Keller added.
That made him stop.
Not long.
Just enough.
His shoulders tightened slightly before settling again.
"That's what you're doing," Virek said, his voice lower now.
"Of course it is."
Silence stretched between them.
"You separated us," Virek said.
"I removed a variable," Keller corrected.
That word landed differently now.
Virek rolled his shoulders once, letting the tension settle into something sharper.
"You're watching patterns," he said. "Not outcomes."
A pause.
"That's your mistake."
Keller didn't respond right away.
"Then show me," he said.
Movement ahead.
Virek saw them before they fully stepped into view.
Three this time.
Different stance. Different pacing.
Better.
Virek adjusted immediately.
The first came in fast, trying to overwhelm him.
Virek stepped off-line, redirecting the strike and using the man's momentum against him. He drove him into the wall hard enough to rattle the structure.
The second attacker fired.
Virek grabbed the first man and pulled him into the line of fire.
The shots landed.
Heavy.
He dropped the body and moved.
No hesitation.
He closed the distance on the second attacker, knocking the weapon aside and driving a knee into his ribs.
Something cracked.
The man folded.
Virek finished it clean.
The third hesitated.
That was all it took.
Virek moved in before the man could recover, disarming him in one sharp motion and slamming him into the ground.
Final.
Silence returned.
Virek stood still for a moment, his breathing even as his eyes moved across the space again, checking, calculating.
Then he stepped forward.
Not slower.
Not cautious.
Just different.
"You're wrong," Virek said quietly.
"Am I?" Keller's voice replied.
Virek didn't answer.
He just kept moving.
And this time, he didn't hold anything back.