"Director, look."
Toby brought up a string of backend telemetry. "Every piece of hardware in the specialized lab is hardwired to the primary grid."
He pointed a trembling finger at the rows of glowing green indicators cascading down the screen. "Since she walked in, the Thermostatic Extraction Array, the Molecular Centrifuge System—everything has been running seamlessly."
"Based on the power draw and metric output, someone is actively running a pharmaceutical synthesis."
Kaelen followed his gesture.
Aided by Toby's breakdown, he read the diagnostics. The machinery was undeniably operational.
The panic gripping Kaelen's chest finally loosened a fraction.
Right. The hardware was live.
She had to be in there.
Perhaps the formula she was brewing was just exceptionally complex, eating up her time.
Considering her notoriously arrogant and greedy reputation, it made perfect sense that she was cooking up something revolutionary to score a massive payout at the auction.
Director Kaelen slowly let out a long breath.
But before he could fully relax, his private comms device began to vibrate.
He snatched it from his pocket. The moment his eyes landed on the ultra-restricted clearance insignia flashing across the screen, the relief vanished from his face, replaced by sheer terror.
Every ounce of color drained from his complexion.
He bolted upright.
He moved so frantically that he nearly toppled his chair.
"C-Commodore."
At the sound of that revered, trembling title, the low murmur of The Med-Tech Control Nexus instantly died into absolute silence.
The senior executives snapped their heads toward him, stark horror painting their features.
The Commodore, Lucius Vael.
The undisputed master of Project Zero-Transit.
And the most enigmatic figure aboard.
Outside of a highly vetted inner circle, practically no one had ever seen his face.
Even top-tier directors like Kaelen
only received direct contact fromet
him in the event of a catastrophic emergency.
Kaelen cradled the device with both hands, barely daring to breathe.
He sucked in a breath and accepted the transmission.
The line clicked open. A heavily encrypted, androgynous voice filtered through. "Where is The Panacea?"
"T-The Panacea?" Kaelen froze.
He hadn't anticipated that the very first thing Lucius Vael would ask about was her.
Why was he looking for her?
How did he even know she was here?
Was her reputation truly that formidable?
Thoughts racing, Kaelen glanced back at the thoroughly blacked-out monitor He swallowed hard. "Ms
Panacea
cea is currently synthesizing compounds in one of the private labs."
FindNovel.net
The line went dead silent for two agonizing seconds.
Those two seconds felt like an icy hand was wrapped tightly around Kaelen's heart, threatening to crush it to dust.
Finally, that chilling, emotionless voice returned. "Are you certain?"
Kaelen flinched, his stomach dropping.
He had just been doubting her presence himself, practically vibrating with anxiety over it.
He never expected...
...The Commodore to zero in on the exact same fear.
Kaelen's dread deepened, his voice trembling slightly. "...Yes, sir. She hasn't emerged since entering, and the lab's hardware is running at fUL capacity."