The two Rosewood Sedative Shells slipped flawlessly through the slits in the
ventilation grate, arcing silently through the air straight toward the corridor outside the control room.
The second the shells caught the air.
The closest Sentinel jerked his head up. "Who's there?"
He barked the warning, his hand instantly dropping to unholster his sidearm.
The rest of the squad instantly snapped into high alert at his voice.
Their reaction time was undeniably impressive.
But unfortunately for them...
It was already too late.
A faint pop echoed as the capsules ruptured mid-air.
A bloom of pink mist instantly exploded through the corridor.
The Sentinel who had called out didn't even get the chance to issue a second warning.
His entire body locked up, and he tipped backward like a felled tree, crashing heavily to the floor.
Some men tried to hold their breath. Others tried to scramble backward.
It was utterly useless.
A second man dropped. Then a third...
One by one, they collapsed into a heap of unconscious bodies.
Not a single man lasted longer than three seconds.
The heavily fortified corridor plunged into dead silence.
Nearly two dozen elite Sentinels lay sprawled out, completely incapacitated.
Only then did Serena step out from the shadows. Her beautiful face was stripped of all emotion.
It didn't matter how sharp their reflexes were.
You couldn't defend against a weapon you didn't even know existed.
Serena dropped silently from the ceiling, landing right inside the Central Pneumatic Hub.
She scanned the room.
It was packed wall-to-wall with heavy machinery.
Dozens of monitors glowed in the low light, constantly scrolling with temperature readouts, oxygen levels, and life-support telemetry for the various cargo holds.
Front and center sat the main
console that dictated the airflow for
every
on Zero Transit.
Serena walked straight up to it.
This hub controlled the massive air-circulation systems feeding directly into The Sanctum Vault.
A labyrinth of massive pipes branched out, routing air to different quarantine zones.
Serena analyzed the main intake valves.
Within seconds, her eyes locked onto a specific duct.
Fenris's map had clearly marked Specimen Fourteen's exact coordinates.
It was simple enough for her to trace
back which ventilation line fed
directly into that specific inter containment cell.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial of Ether-Void Disruptor.
The liquid inside was bizarre-shifting between an oily black and a deep, bruised crimson.
Catching the glow from the control monitors, the serum shimmered with a dangerous luminescence.
Serena popped the stopper with her thumb and tilted the glass vial.
The liquid steadily dripped into the air intake shaft.
The moment the compound made contact with the pressurized airflow inside.
It instantly vaporized into a nearly invisible mist.
It swept silently through the vents, barreling straight toward the inner Sanctum Vault.
Project Zero-Transit was designed with military-grade filtration protocols for every single air shaft.
The moment any toxic or chemically harmful substance was introduced.
The sensors would trip a ship-wide alarm and trigger immediate quarantine lockdowns.
The blast doors would slam shut long before the poison reached the vault. Followed by an aggressive purge and reverse-ventilation cycle to blast the toxins out.
That level of security was exactly why the administration felt confident
hiding Specimen Fourteen nfident
Gontent
They firmly believed...
Their systems were completely impenetrable.
But the Ether-Void Disruptor Serena poured into the vent didn't trip a single alarm.
The blast doors remained open.
Because what she had just introduced wasn't actually a poison at all...