82. Sienna
Sienna
“ N o…”
The word barely leaves my mouth.
Lily stares at the screen in horror.
“I didn’t mean to!”
The entire compound groans around us.
Deep below—
Massive steel blast doors begin sealing shut.
Emergency sirens howl through the corridors.
And over every speaker in the facility—
Oracle speaks.
“Containment integrity compromised.”
The voice sounds different now.
Less mechanical.
More emotional.
More… protective.
Jonah grabs my arm immediately.
“How long?”
Vale’s fingers fly across the terminal.
His face drains of color.
“Eight minutes until full reactor purge.”
Lance stares at him.
“Reactor?”
“You built a SECRET REACTOR under the murder bunker?!” Cal shouts at Kade.
Kade doesn’t even look at him.
His eyes stay fixed on Lily.
On Oracle.
Pride radiates from him like poison.
“She chose self-preservation.”
“No,” I snap furiously. “She chose fear.”
Lily starts crying harder on-screen.
“I don’t want them to take me away…”
The white lights flicker uncertainly overhead.
Oracle responding to her emotions again.
I move closer to the monitor slowly.
“Lily, listen to me.”
Her gray eyes lock onto mine instantly.
Terrified.
Childlike.
God, she’s still just a little girl under all this.
“You are not alone anymore.”
“But if they disconnect me—”
“We’re not leaving you.”
Kade laughs softly.
“You can’t save her, Sienna.”
Jonah turns toward him instantly.
Wrong move.
Very wrong move.
Because Kade’s smile fades the second he sees Jonah’s face.
There’s something different there now.
Not just rage.
Decision.
And I suddenly realize Jonah has reached the point where he’s done negotiating with monsters.
Good.
Very good.
The compound shakes again.
Harder this time.
Dust crashes from the ceiling.
Aaron’s voice explodes through comms.
“We’ve got children trapped behind emergency bulkheads!”
Ronan cuts in immediately.
“Lower levels are flooding with coolant vapor. Visibility dropping fast.”
Noah’s frightened voice crackles through the speakers.
“Lily?”
The little girl gasps softly.
“I’m here.”
“It’s cold…”
Every monitor in the room flickers.
Oracle reacting instantly to Noah’s fear.
Then suddenly—
A map appears across the central screen.
Escape routes.
Security bypasses.
Door controls.
The entire facility layout unfolding in real time.
Cal blinks.
“…Did the creepy child AI just help us?”
“I think she did,” Vale whispers.
Kade lunges toward the monitor despite his injury.
“Lily STOP.”
She flinches hard.
The lights flash red again.
Fear response.
Damn it.
I kneel directly in front of the screen.
“Hey,” I say softly.
Her breathing shakes.
“You remember the stars?”
Tiny nod.
“You told me once you wanted to see the ocean.”
The room stills.
Lily wipes at her tears.
“I’ve never seen it.”
Pain crushes my chest.
Four years underground.
Connected to machines.
Never seeing sunlight.
Never feeling rain.
Never hearing waves.
Dear God.
“You will,” I whisper firmly.
Kade’s voice cuts in sharply.
“She can’t survive outside Oracle.”
“SHUT UP.”
The fury in my voice shocks even me.
Lily stares at me silently.
Hope flickering in her eyes now.
Dangerous hope.
The best kind.
Then suddenly—
The speakers crackle again.
Not Oracle.
Aaron.
Breathing hard.
“We found the rest of the kids.”
Relief slams through the room.
All sixteen.
Alive.
But Aaron’s voice darkens immediately after.
“…We also found something else.”
Jonah’s eyes narrow.
“What?”
Static crackles heavily.
Then Ronan’s calm voice comes through.
“There’s another chamber down here.”
My stomach drops instantly.
No.
Ronan continues quietly—
“And you’re all gonna want to see what’s inside.”