Isabel POV
The power outage plunged the building into a choking silence, broken only by the distant thud of boots and muffled shouts. My laptop screen glowed faintly; the words END GAME taunting me like a ghost from my past.
Miguel's hand tightened on my shoulder. "What are we looking at?"
I swallowed hard. "Victor said there was a failsafe, something to destroy the system. But... what if it's not?"
Miguel frowned. "What do you mean?"
I hesitated, my fingers flying across the keys, pulling up the buried lines of code Victor had uncovered. Each layer revealed more, the intricate threads of manipulation stretching further than I'd imagined.
"It's a trap," I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper. "Activating it doesn't erase the system—it merges control. Gideon would have complete command."
Miguel's expression darkened. "Victor doesn't know."
"Or he does, and he thinks he's outsmarting them."
