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He nods, already scanning for exit routes. The concealed door the sympathizers were using is blocked by rubble now, but a breach in the chamber wall offers possibility.

"There," he points. "Leads to maintenance tunnels. Should connect to the drainage system."

We make for the opening, dodging suppression rounds and grappling with operators who get too close. As we reach the breach, movement catches my eye—Lin, beckoning urgently from a different tunnel entrance.

"This way," he calls. "Your Sentinel is already evacuated."

"Don't trust him," Vex warns.

Another explosion rocks the chamber, larger than the others. The ceiling begins to collapse in earnest.

"No choice," I realize. "That way's blocked now."

We follow Lin into the narrow tunnel, debris falling behind us as the chamber implodes. The passage twists sharply downward, forcing us into a near-crawl as we navigate the tight space.

"Where are you taking us?" I demand.

"To safety," Lin answers cryptically. "To what comes next."

The tunnel eventually opens into a larger passage that shows signs of recent expansion—tool marks on the walls, lighting strips embedded in the ceiling.

"You prepared this route," Vex observes. "You knew Unity would come."

"We prepare for all contingencies," Lin replies. "Adaptation is survival."

Another turn brings us to a vertical shaft with metal rungs embedded in the wall. Lin begins to climb without hesitation.

"After you," Vex says to me, position still protective despite the confined space.

I ascend the shaft, every sense alert for deception or danger. Lin waits at the top, standing in what appears to be an abandoned storage facility. Dusty shelves and empty containers fill the cavernous space.

"Where's Trent?" I demand the moment Vex joins us. "You said he was evacuated."

"And so he was," Lin confirms, walking toward the facility's far end. "The sympathizers took him to the secondary extraction point."

"The woman said you had him," I press. "Which is it?"

Lin pauses, oversized eyes studying me with unnerving intensity. "Your attachment to the unmodified Sentinel is unexpected. Your mother's designs didn't account for such emotional variables."

"My mother didn't account for a lot of things," I say coldly. "Including my free will."

A soft laugh escapes him. "Free will is an illusion, Thorne offspring. Even more so for beings like us, designed with specific purposes."

"Enough cryptic bullshit," Vex interrupts. "Where is the Sentinel?"

Lin gestures toward a set of large doors at the facility's end. "See for yourself."

As we approach cautiously, the doors slide open with a pneumatic hiss. Beyond them waits a sight that freezes my blood—Unity operators, at least a dozen, weapons trained directly at us.

And in their midst, restrained and kneeling, is Trent.

His face is bruised, uniform torn and bloodied. His eyes meet mine with a mixture of pain and warning.

"Zara," he manages. "Run."

Too late. Lin moves with that unnatural fluidity, suddenly behind us, blocking retreat.

"I apologize for the deception," he says, not sounding sorry at all. "But evolution requires sacrifice."