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Remy. Here .

Finn shook his head, the habitat’s recycled air metallic on his tongue.

And not just here—imprisoned in one of Triton’s supercomputers, buried under tons of dark water. Cut off from the world. She’d once had a body, moved through space like a person. Now, they had locked her away in digital isolation.

Would isolation drive an AI insane? Could artificial intelligence even experience madness? Everything about this situation had spiraled so far beyond his comprehension that up and down had lost all meaning.

“The Io’s primary research objective was furthering nanotechnology.” Remy’s precisely modulated voice carried a hint of urgency.

“Nanotechnology?” Ethan’s eyes narrowed, and a muscle blipped along his jaw. “I’m no scientist, but you’re talking about microscopic robotics?”

“Yes. Individual nanobots cannot be detected by the unaided human eye. They are programmed to perform specific tasks inside the human body or in the environment.”

Finn’s pulse quickened as his mind conjured images of thousands of tiny machines flooding through human veins. A dull throb started behind his eyes, and he pressed his fingers against his temples, trying to massage away the building pressure. “Tiny robots swimming in our blood?”

Molecular robots self-replicating in the bowels of the earth. Fuck that shit .

“That’s a populist view shown in horror movies.” Rose straightened, her professionalism slipping into place even as her fingers clutched her elbows. It was the same look she’d worn during the mission briefing topside. “It goes far beyond that. Nanobots can potentially repair damaged cells, clean out blocked arteries, deliver targeted medication. They can be used as a force for good.”

“Rose Wyndham is correct in her assessment.” Remy paused. “However, I must inform you that the work being conducted here does not pursue medical applications.”

A weapon ? The idea slithered through his mind, leaving ice in its wake.

“Dr. Wyndham and her team have developed nanotechnology with independent artificial intelligence.” Remy’s voice remained steady, but the hairs on the back of his neck stiffened.

“Not possible.” Rose’s knuckles blanched, her scientist’s certainty warring with the evidence before them. “We’re still decades from fully functional AI-powered nanobots capable of working intelligently as a team in real-world applications.” She glanced at Finn, and he saw the flash of fear she was trying to hide. His hand twitched at his side, fighting the urge to reach for her .

“It is possible.” Remy’s simple words landed like lead weights.

“What are the implications?” Ethan spun to face Rose. “The lay version?”

“Imagine swarms of microscopic robots, each with its own AI, able to communicate and work together independently.” Rose’s cheeks drained of color. God, he wanted to cup her face in his palms, to warm them against his skin. “They could build, repair or destroy on a scale never seen before.”

Finn swore under his breath. A drop of condensation fell from a pipe overhead, hitting his neck with arctic precision. That wrong feeling he’d had on the surface where the dirt was the color of blood. It had done nothing but intensify since his team had descended into the Io. And now it seemed for good reason.

“There’s more.” Remy’s words hung in the air like an executioner’s blade.

“More?” Finn pressed his fingers against his closed eyes, seeking a moment’s refuge in the cool darkness, his heart thudding against his ribs. “I’m not sure I want more.” But they were past the point of wanting or not wanting.

“Until now, nanobots have had to be manufactured externally. Dr. Wyndham’s team has achieved something unprecedented,” Remy continued. “They’ve developed self-replicating nanobots that blur the line between biological and synthetic life. These machines harvest living bacteria, breaking them down into their parts to build more of themselves.”

“Jesus.” Finn’s stomach lurched as the implications hit him. Living machines that could reproduce like a virus.

“Think of it as a microscopic factory,” Remy explained. “The nanobots use bacterial DNA as both blueprint and building material. They strip the bacteria down to its basic elements, combining the organic components with synthetic structures to create perfect copies of themselves.”

“And they’re not just self-replicating.” Rose paced the room. “Every generation could differ from the last. This is something that could both reproduce and adapt.”

Her words dragged across Finn’s skin. “I’m not sure I even want to know about this.”

Rose pressed a thumb and forefinger to her temple. “I understand.” The light behind her rippled as if responding to her words. “But this isn’t fiction.”

“Evolution of non-living things?” A sharp no jerked Ethan’s head. “What in God’s name did they think they were doing down here?”

Rose came to a halt and flopped onto a stool, the metal legs juddering against the floor. “How did she do it?”

“Dr. Wyndham’s team utilized unusual bacteria to facilitate the process.”

Finn glanced at Ethan. Read the same emotions on his team leader’s face. Neither of them needed to hear the next words from Remy.

Finn already knew the answer. “The Ceto bacteria?”

“That is correct, Finn Jones.”

The air around Finn crystallized, time stretching like cold molasses. Ancient bacteria they barely understood, combined with self-evolving machines, all sealed away in this pressurized tomb. This wasn’t playing with fire—this was playing with something that could consume the world.

Rose scrutinized him. “Ceto? The one they dug up in Rosemary Mount off the coast of Scotland?”

“The same.” His jaw clenched painfully. “The most dangerous cyanobacteria on the planet combined with self-replicating intelligent nanotech. What could possibly go wrong?” His laugh came out hollow, bouncing off the sterile walls.

“Now you sound like Luca,” Rose said.

“I’m beginning to think Luca is the only one with a sensible grip on what’s going on.” Finn stalked a circuit around the lab. The weight of rock and water pressed down. God, he missed the sky. Fresh air. Sunshine. Anything but the suffocating walls and artificial light. “We keep telling him to stop being a fucking pessimist but—” He hung his head, searching for operational focus.

“Triton consider themselves above ethical consent. Seeking consent would slow if not stifle the process.” Finn could have sworn there was regret in Remy’s voice.

Ethan snorted. “Why does that not surprise me?”

“Is that what’s behind the fucking glass, Remy?” Finn approached the central column and its luminescent light once more. This was next-level fuckery and way beyond his pay grade.

“That is correct. This is their holding container. The nanobots are tagged with radioisotopes so they can be tracked digitally. That is the light you see in the column.”

Finn stared at the shifting luminescence, his throat constricting. The nanobots swarmed against the glass like intelligent mercury, forming and reforming patterns that seemed just on the edge of meaningful. Like watching thoughts form in liquid light. They were deliberate. Purposeful. Testing their boundaries?—

“This is light years beyond anything developed on the surface.” Rose drew level with him, the light playing across her delicate features. “I can’t begin to understand how they got so far, so fast.” She exhaled shakily. “At least now we know why the lab is hidden at the bottom of a lake, lost in the desert. ”

She faced him, her expression grave. “This kind of research is highly regulated and with good reason. Until now, all nanobots have been manmade. As creators, humans have controlled their numbers. But self-replicating ones?” Her expression flipped to a frown. “ Hypothetically , if self-replicating nanobots get out of control, they could replicate endlessly, consuming everything in their path. It could cascade into a runaway infection, converting everything in Earth’s environment to a ‘gray goo’.”

“What the fuck,” Finn breathed.

Her eyes glinted with hard won understanding. “This is what the OSC wants us to bring to the surface. This is why we’re here. Not the crew. This . A primary swarm of living, self-replicating nanobots. A self-sustaining community that can multiply as long as it’s fed organic material.”

Her fingers traced the length of her arm, as if imagining microscopic machines blasting through her veins.

Nausea swirled through Finn, his mind conjuring images of that hunger spreading across the world, consuming everything in its path. “What would they do with it?”

“I don’t want to guess. But having control of this? That’s absolute power.” Her voice was brittle with tension.

Weaponization .

A tremor raised goosebumps on his arms. Had the lives of the Io’s crew factored into Triton’s calculations? And what about Rose and his team? Were they expendable too? “How?”

“Um…off the top of my head? Nanobots could be programmed to target specific biological markers. In theory, they could be used to attack particular ethnic groups, or individuals with certain genetic traits. They could also be de signed to disrupt critical infrastructure, breaking down materials at a molecular level.”

“But they can’t get out?” Finn dragged his gaze from the writhing coils of light. “It’s sealed?”

“The containment protocols were designed by Dr. Wyndham’s team. They account for all known variables.” Remy’s level voice should have reassured him, but it didn’t.

“Known variables,” Rose murmured, watching the nanobot’s movements. “But they’re evolving, aren’t they? Learning. Adapting. That’s the whole point.” She held her palm close to the glass. As she spoke, the particles responded, swirling in fantastic geometries, beautiful and terrifying in their precision. “How do you contain something that’s programmed to overcome obstacles?”