The interrogation room was dim—lit only by a narrow overhead beam that cut through the darkness like a blade. Julian sat at the center of it, wrists bound to the steel chair, sweat clinging to his forehead.
Emory watched from behind the one-way glass, arms folded, his jaw tight with quiet anger. Rae stood beside him, her face unreadable.
"He's scared," she said after a beat.
"He should be," Emory replied. "He lied to all of us."
"Or," Rae said softly, "he was desperate. Eden knows how to break people."
Inside the room, Isabelle circled Julian slowly, datapad in hand. "Three encrypted messages. One right after the defense grid was mapped. Another after Carter's team went dark. And the third… just before you were caught."
Julian's eyes were glassy. "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."
"That's the thing about betrayal," Isabelle said. "It doesn't care about intention. Only impact."
"I just wanted to survive," he croaked. "They promised me safety. A way out. Said they'd leave the rest of you alone if I gave them access to the comms. I didn't know Carter would be..."
His voice cracked.
"Dead?" Isabelle finished for him. "We don't know that yet. But we do know they're missing—and you helped make that happen."
Julian's head hung low. "I'm sorry. I was weak."
Emory stepped into the room, his presence like a sudden gust of cold air. "We don't need your apologies. We need your help fixing this."
Julian looked up, surprised. "What?"
"You're going to walk us through every message, every code, every contact. You're going to help us break into Eden's network. From the inside."
Julian hesitated, then nodded slowly. "If I do this… will you let me stay?"
Emory's voice was calm. "That depends on whether you're still lying."
---
Outside, the night was restless. A wind had picked up, carrying the distant scent of ozone—storms brewing in more ways than one.
Damian was at the beacon control center, typing fast. "Ghost signal active. Relay bouncing through five dead satellites before returning to the decoy hub."
"Nice work," Rae said as she joined him. "Think Eden will chase it?"
"They will," Damian replied. "Because they think we're desperate enough to run. They still don't know we're setting the trap."
A pause.
"You think Emory's doing the right thing?" she asked quietly.
Damian didn't answer right away. "Julian's not the only one who's scared. Half the people here are terrified we're going to lose. I don't know what the right thing is anymore."
Rae exhaled. "Then I guess we just hold the line until the truth shows up."
---
Meanwhile, beyond the perimeter—hidden in the woods—Carter blinked against the pain in his skull as he regained consciousness.
The last thing he remembered was static... then a burst of white light. Now, he was inside some kind of containment cell—metallic, sterile. A voice echoed through a speaker.
"You're not supposed to be awake yet."
He forced his eyes open.
Across from him stood someone familiar—a woman from Eden.
But not just anyone.
It was Sera Lin.
"I thought you were dead," Carter rasped.
Her eyes gleamed behind glass. "Everyone makes that mistake at least once."