Finish. Ava stepped back from the wall projection. Her system was already rerouting a clean path out—one that didn't intersect with Angel's rising panic. The corridors would soon be flooded with enforcers chasing ghosts, trying to stabilize a system already built to fall.
Lucas tapped his wrist once, closing the live schematic.
"It's time to move."
Ava nodded. "We've stayed long enough."
Lucas nodded then led the way, his coat fluttering slightly with each turn. He didn't look back until they reached a sealed steel grate halfway down the tunnel. He tapped it twice, then once more—a rhythm keyed to an override sensor buried beneath the wall panel.
A click. A hiss.
The gate unlocked.
"We're at the branch point," he said, pausing without turning around.
Ava stopped behind him. Locke followed, quietly.
Lucas glanced over his shoulder, smirk curling at the edges of his mouth.
"Captain," he said, tone almost amused, "you've got a decision to make."
