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Chapter 6 - Point of No Return

The glass door of the pod slid open with a hydraulic hiss. Elena Bennett collapsed forward into her sister’s arms, gasping for warm air, her body shivering violently from the sub-zero state.

"Maya...?" Elena gasped, her blue eyes struggling to focus on her sister's face. "How... how did you find me?"

"It doesn't matter," Maya sobbed, wrapping her warm lab coat around her shivering sister. "We have to go. Right now."

Elena’s eyes shifted, falling onto the little boy standing by the door. "Ethan..."

Ethan stepped forward slowly, looking at the woman who looked so much like Maya. "Are you... my mama?"

Elena’s eyes filled with tears. "I gave you life, sweetie... I brought you into this world, and I failed to protect you..."

"You didn't fail," Maya said firmly, helping Elena to her feet. "We are getting out together."

Suddenly, the red emergency sirens across the laboratory began to flash in a rhythmic, terrifying sequence. A mechanical voice echoed over the automated speakers:

“WARNING: BIOLOGICAL LOCKDOWN INITIATED. NEUROTOXIN DISPERSAL IN 3 MINUTES. ALL SECTOR DOORS SEALING.”

Heavy steel blast doors began descending over every exit in the laboratory.

"Langley..." Elena whispered in horror. "He’s venting the research facility with Sarin gas to destroy all evidence!"

Maya sprinted to the control console. She tried to input the override key again, but the screen flashed red: ACCESS DENIED. MANUAL HARD-OVERRIDE REQUIRED FROM MAIN SERVER CORE.

"The main server core is inside the central containment room!" Elena shouted over the roaring alarms. "If someone doesn't manually hold the manual release lever down from the inside, the blast doors will seal us all in this room to suffocate!"

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Maya looked at the heavy steel lever across the room. It had to be held down manually to allow the outer airlock to remain open.

Someone had to stay behind.

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