A strange silence swept over the prison. No more buzzing lights, no more humming of machinery. Even the footsteps echoing throughout the halls had come to a stop.
Elysia stood alone in the hallway, her hand pressed to the cold wall for balance. Her body was still trembling from the rush of adrenaline, fear, and fury.
Somewhere below her, the power grid had just died. Ronin had done it.
And that meant—
Click.
A single metallic snap echoed down the corridor. Then another. And another.
Click. Click. Click.
She turned, eyes wide, watching as cell doors up and down the long, concrete hallway began unlocking one by one.
From within the darkened cells, figures began to emerge.
One opened just in front of Elysia, and an old man with a hunched back stepped out carefully. "Are we free?"
"Not yet," Elysia replied.
Some stepped out of their cells slowly, stunned.
Others charged out like animals unleashed. Muscles taut, eyes wild, half-mad from isolation.
