63. Clay
Clay
Of course it is.
Because psychopaths like Wu always build their throne rooms closest to the fire.
The checkpoint falls silent while the bunker alarms continue pulsing red overhead.
Gabriel pulls the facility schematics onto the terminal screen.
Levels upon levels beneath Bucharest.
Research wings.
Containment sectors.
Transit tunnels.
Medical labs.
Enough infrastructure to hide a war underground.
And buried at the very bottom—
Ascension Core.
Directly beneath Director Wu’s command center.
Russ studies the map hard.
“How heavily defended?”
Gabriel’s expression darkens.
“Very.”
Helpful.
Lucas leans against the checkpoint barrier, pale from blood loss but still standing through pure stubbornness.
“We split teams.”
“No,” I say immediately.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
Everyone looks at me.
Don’t care.
Not after what we just saw.
Not after those kids.
Not after Hannah shaking beside me trying to hold herself together while still protecting everyone else.
We are not separating her in this place.
Gabriel notices instantly.
“This isn’t personal, Vincent.”
I step toward him slowly.
“It became personal the second I saw barcode tattoos on children.”
Nobody argues with that.
Because they all feel it now too.
This stopped being an operation the moment we realized Ascension was still active.
Russ finally steps between us.
“Focus.”
He points toward the map.
“We need three things:
One, secure the children.
Two, stop the evacuation.
Three, kill Wu.”
Simple.
Clean.
Violent.
I like Russ more every day.
Mason motions toward the rescued children.
“My men can get them topside.”
One of the little boys immediately panics.
“No!”
The word cracks through the checkpoint so suddenly everyone freezes.
The boy’s breathing turns ragged instantly.
Fear.
Pure terror.
“They said outside isn’t safe.”
Jesus Christ.
The other children start shrinking back too.
One girl covers her ears like she’s expecting punishment.
Hannah kneels immediately in front of them.
Gentle.
Steady.
“They lied to you.”
The children stare at her uncertainly.
The smallest girl whispers:
“Will we be corrected?”
My vision literally blurs red.
Clay. Easy.
Easy.
No.
Not easy.
Never easy again.
Hannah’s face crumples for one horrible second before she catches herself.
“No,” she says softly.
“You’re not broken.”
The little girl starts crying instantly.
Silent tears.
Like she doesn’t know how to cry out loud.
That almost kills me right there.
Russ looks away sharply.
Lucas swears under his breath.
Even Mason’s hardened operators look shaken.
Wu did this.
Wu built this place.
Wu taught children they needed permission to exist.
Gabriel suddenly stiffens at the terminal.
“Movement.”
Everybody snaps back to combat instantly.
Multiple heat signatures moving fast through lower corridors.
Armed teams.
A lot of them.
Russ checks ammo.
“How long?”
Gabriel’s fingers fly across the keyboard.
“Two minutes. Maybe less.”
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Mason chambers a round.
“Then we make this hurt.”
Now we’re talking.
Russ immediately starts assigning positions around the checkpoint while Gabriel uploads emergency route data to handhelds.
Lucas moves beside me, checking his rifle.
“You good?”
“No.”
He nods once.
“Same.”
Fair enough.
Because none of us are good anymore.
Not after seeing this place.
Not after realizing how deep Sentinel truly goes.
Hannah suddenly grabs my wrist.
I turn instantly.
Her eyes lock onto mine.
And I know that look now.
Memory overlap.
Another one hitting hard.
“They’re using the lower medical wing.”
Her voice shakes slightly.
“For what?”
She swallows hard.
“Behavioral resets.”
Silence.
Cold.
Deadly silence.
I already hate the answer before she explains it.
Hannah’s breathing turns uneven.
“They erase emotional attachment through isolation, drugs, sensory deprivation…”
Her voice nearly breaks.
“…and punishment.”
No one speaks.
Because suddenly all those emotionless children make horrifying sense.
Not born that way.
Made that way.
Hannah presses trembling fingers against her temple.
“They called it restoration.”
God help me.
Clay. Breathe.
Breathe before you start shooting walls.
The alarms suddenly stop.
Every red emergency light freezes.
Then shifts.
White.
Clean.
Clinical.
And Wu’s voice returns one final time.
“You are approaching restricted levels.”
Calm as ever.
Like he’s welcoming guests to dinner.
“Security teams have been instructed to use lethal force.”
Russ smirks coldly.
“That’s cute.”
Wu ignores him.
“Hannah.”
Her body goes rigid beside me.
“You once believed in Ascension.”
I immediately step closer to her.
Wu keeps talking.
“You understood humanity’s flaws better than the others ever could.”
Hannah’s face hardens.
“I was a child.”
“A gifted child.”
That does it.
I grab the nearest speaker off the wall and slam it against concrete hard enough plastic explodes everywhere.
“You keep talking about children like they’re weapons.”
Silence.
Then softly—
“No, Clay Vincent.”
A pause.
“Weapons are easier to replace.”
Every single person in that checkpoint goes still.
Even the bunker itself feels quieter after that.
Because somehow—
somehow—
he just became even worse.
Then Gabriel’s voice cuts sharply through the silence.
“They’re here.”
Gunfire erupts from the lower corridor a split second later.
The checkpoint explodes into chaos.