The airlock hissed shut behind me, plunging me into darkness.
Thirty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds.
The countdown flashed tauntingly on my digital watch. Just thirty-two minutes until the power grid would fail completely. Thirty-two minutes until the life support systems keeping Jin-sama alive would fade into silence forever.
I knew what I had to do. The power grid had to be restored for him. His comfort and safety were the only things that truly mattered in this madness.
The map of the Vault was etched in my mind, a flawless three-dimensional image that had burned itself into my consciousness the moment I laid eyes on it in Clara's trembling hands. Every corridor, every junction, every maintenance hatch—each carved in my head.
Gliding toward Sector Delta. I shunned the main hallways, slipping instead into the service ducts and maintenance crawlspaces. I navigated through the very pathways I had memorized from the vault's intricate blueprints.
