Chapter 28 · Zero Protocol

The new Mark's eyes locked on me from across the lab floor. Wrist counter still reading 99. Fresh. Clean. No blood on his hands yet.

I didn't have time for this.

"Mark-99," I said, keeping my voice level. "You see that console behind me? The one with the blinking red timer? That's rigged to blow this whole facility in four minutes. You wanna be the guy who lets eight more of us wake up and turn this into a fucking nightmare? Or you wanna help me shut it down?"

He looked at me like I was insane. Which, fair. I probably looked like hell. Blood dried on my collar. Hands shaking. Wrist counter sitting at 01 like a countdown I couldn't stop.

"Who the fuck are you?" he said.

Ava stepped up beside me, gun still in her hand but pointed at the floor now. "He's you. Six months from now. And if you don't listen, you're gonna die in this room."

Mark-99's eyes flicked to her, then back to me. I saw the calculation happening. The same calculation I'd run a hundred times. Trust the stranger or trust your gut.

"Four minutes," I said again.