"Do you hear that?" Claire murmured, her voice low but sharp.
Daniel paused, straining to listen. The faintest whirring sound echoed through the corridor. A mechanical hum, steady and deliberate.
"Drones," he said, his jaw tightening. "They're patrolling."
Claire's eyes flickered, her body tensing. "We need to move."
They pressed forward, their pace quickening but still cautious. Tessa's absence was a weight on Daniel's mind, the gap in their trio growing more conspicuous with each passing second. She'd been gone too long. His instincts screamed at him to cut their losses and leave, but his curiosity—and the system's cryptic warnings—kept him rooted.
At the end of the corridor, a faint green glow illuminated the frost-covered walls. Daniel's eyes locked onto the source: a still-operational terminal, its screen blinking faintly.
