Htms-05801:37:34 Min -

Elias didn't wait. He bolted past the startled security droids. He had to descend forty floors.

At , the lights flickered. A voice, small and distorted, cracked through his ear-link. "Elias? Can you hear me?"

It was Sarah. She had "Ascended" three years ago. The official word was that archived souls couldn't communicate with the physical world, yet here she was, her voice sounding like static and starlight. HTMS-05801:37:34 Min

... He scrambled through a ventilation shaft, the metal tearing at his jumpsuit.

"There’s a bypass," she whispered. "HTMS-05801 isn't an archive code. It's an exit port. If you can reach the cooling vents in the basement before the clock hits zero, you can jump the firewall." The Descent Elias didn't wait

... He reached the basement. It was filled with the roar of massive liquid-nitrogen fans.

Elias slammed his fist onto the 'Manual Eject' lever. The world turned white. The sensation of his body being pulled apart suddenly snapped back together like a rubber band. The Aftermath At , the lights flickered

The terminal in the basement was ancient, covered in dust. He plugged his wrist-comm into the manual port.