Chapter 21 · Reset Protocol - Chapter 21: Sterilization Starts Now

"Move." I grabbed Lucas by the collar and hauled him toward the access corridor.

"Wait, wait—" He tried to plant his feet, but I was already shoving him ahead of me. "Mark, what the hell just happened back there?"

"You saw what happened. The core flagged everyone. All forty thousand."

"So we run?"

"So we survive long enough to fix it." I pulled him around the corner just as the observation chamber door hissed behind us. Red light flooded the hallway. "Go. Now."

Lucas stumbled, caught himself on the wall. "Where are we going?"

"Away from that thing." I pushed him again. "Move faster."

"I don't know this section—"

"Then follow me and shut up."

He did, for about ten seconds. Then his voice came out low and tight. "Mark. What did you do to the mark?"

I didn't answer. My right hand still burned where I'd crushed the admin mark into fragments. The skin was blistered, peeling at the edges, and I could see something dark underneath. Not blood. Something else.

"Mark."

"I broke it."

"You what?"

"The mark. I broke it. The core wanted a trade. Vera's cure for forty thousand lives. I said no."

Lucas stopped running.