The bunker erupted into chaos.
"You knew?" Jax shouted, stepping toward Lena. "You knew where they took her, and you never said a word?"
"I was trying to protect all of you," Lena answered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Protect us?" Maya snapped. "Hibis is gone because someone betrayed us!"
The room filled with angry voices.
"She can't be trusted."
"She's one of them."
"Throw her out!"
Lena didn't defend herself. Every accusation struck with painful truth. She had served the Government. She had followed Commander Voss. She had believed she was helping preserve humanity. Instead, she had become part of the machine that destroyed it.
Marco raised his voice.
"Enough!"
The bunker fell quiet.
"If Lena wanted us dead, we already would be. She stayed. She warned us. And now she's the only one who knows where Hibis is."
Jahir folded his arms.
"Or she's leading us into another trap."
Marco met his gaze.
"Maybe."
The answer shocked everyone.
"But if there's even a chance Hibis is alive, we don't leave her behind."
Jahir stepped closer until they stood face-to-face.
"You've become emotional."
"And you've become cold," Marco replied.
"The mission comes first."
"Hibis is the mission."
"The survival of twenty children is the mission!"
Their voices echoed through the bunker.
Neither man noticed the frightened children watching from the shadows.
Kael stepped between them.
"Stop!"
Neither listened.
Johar shoved Marco backward.
"You'll get everyone killed."
Marco lunged back, grabbing Johar by the front of his jacket.
"You'd sacrifice one child to save the rest."
"I'd sacrifice one to save thousands!"
The two crashed into a table, sending maps and equipment across the floor.
Sam and Kael pulled at Marco.
Maya and Jax restrained Johar
For several seconds, the bunker became complete chaos.
Finally, the two men were forced apart.
Both stood breathing heavily, their friendship hanging by a thread.
Silence filled the room.
Then...
A tiny voice broke it.
"If you keep fighting..."
Everyone turned.
One of the youngest children clutched Hibis's blanket tightly.
"...who's going to save her?"
The words struck harder than any punch.
Marco lowered his head.
Johar closed his eyes.
Both realized they had lost sight of what mattered.
Lena stepped forward.
"I know the facility."
No one interrupted.
"It isn't on any map. It's underground beneath an abandoned research complex. There are security drones, biometric locks, and soldiers who never ask questions."
She looked directly at Marco.
"Commander Voss won't hurt Hibis... yet."
"Why?" Maya asked cautiously.
Lena hesitated.
"Because Hibis isn't just another child."
Everyone waited.
"She's the last living key to something Voss has spent years searching for."
The room grew cold.
"What key?" Marco asked.
Lena shook her head.
"I don't know everything. I only know that if Voss unlocks whatever Hibis carries..."
"...the Government wins."
No one spoke.
The mission had changed.
This was no longer just a rescue.
It was a race against time.
Marco looked around the bunker.
"We leave at nightfall."
Johar nodded after a long silence.
"For Hibis."
The others began preparing weapons, supplies, and medical kits.
Fear remained.
So did doubt.
But something stronger had returned.
Hope.
Far away, inside the Government facility, Hibis sat alone holding the faded photograph of the woman Voss claimed was her mother.
She stared at the smiling face.
Something deep inside her stirred.
Not a memory.
A feeling.
As lights flickered overhead, hidden machines buried beneath the facility suddenly came to life for the first time in fifteen years.
Somewhere below, a computer displayed a single message.
GENETIC MATCH DETECTED.
PROJECT EDEN REACTIVATED.
The countdown had begun.