Andrew's room was cold, angular. More like a bunker than a lab. He was offered a black chair and a tray with ration bars, caf, and a glass of unfamiliar red liquid.
A data console blinked to life — and a
replica of Signa-Ki's layout mapped in front of him.
But something was wrong.
None of the cameras fed live footage. Everything was delayed, prepackaged. Sanitized.
He leaned forward, hands hovering over the display — and muttered:
"You're showing me what you want me to see. Not what's real."
There was no response.
He tapped a subroutine and rerouted access with a trick from his Elysium days — a bypass through maintenance code.
Suddenly, the schematic glitched.
And he saw it:
"SUBJECT: DAHLIA-0 — PHASE TWO INITIATED"
Andrew froze.
His mouth went dry.
"…Dahlia?"
And then: the name
Dobson appeared again. With a code flag:
"File Origin: Dobson-L. Clearance: Founder."
Andrew stood abruptly.
He needed to get to Sommer. Now.