The crimson lights still pulsed in rhythmic circles overhead, and the alarms hadn't ceased. The chamber reeked of ozone and burning metal, the remnants of dismantled sentinels lying in mangled heaps around Lin's feet. The server screens crackled, streams of code wiping themselves clean as failsafes devoured everything Keller hadn't managed to steal.
Lin stood in the wreckage, chest rising and falling like a man trying to anchor himself in reality. His side burned from the cut, warm blood dampening his shirt, but that wasn't what twisted his insides.
It was the fragments of words Keller had thrown into the air.
Files on you, Lin.
Not on the guardian, not on Min-joon, not on weapons. On him.
Jin's voice lingered like smoke curling into his skull.
"I told you. You're not free. You're not special. You're just another experiment."
Lin exhaled slowly, jaw tightening. His eyes, sharp yet clouded by something heavier than fatigue, shifted to Keller.
