The blue liquid drains from the pods. Alarms blare. Red lights flash.

INT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

The technicians drink. Within a minute, they slump.

Elena presses her palm against the glass. (breath) I’m here. I’m so sorry I’m late. Marcus checks the control panel. MARCUS The decant cycle starts in 90 minutes. We have to extract her before the neural flush begins. If she’s disconnected mid-cycle, brain death. ELENA So we stop the cycle. MARCUS That requires an admin override from the main security hub. Two floors up. Past the armory. ELENA Divide and conquer. You get Lina physically ready. I get the override. MARCUS Elena. If you get caught, they won’t kill you. They’ll put you in an empty pod. ELENA (tight smile) Then I’ll see my sister either way. She leaves before he can argue. [SCENE 6] INT. NEXUS SECURITY HUB - 4:47 AM

Bullets ricochet.

Behind them, Nexus burns—not from fire, but from the data purge Elena initiated. Screens flicker. Pods shatter. Years of horror, deleting themselves.

Marcus watches in the rearview. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. INT. CORRIGAN PENTHOUSE - DAWN

It looks like an operating room from hell. Twenty pods, each containing a person suspended in blue liquid. Tubes run from their skulls to a central server.

Lina sits in the corner, wet and shivering, eyes fixed on nothing.

Elena injects a sedative into the coffee carafe. She watched the guard’s schedule. Coffee refill in 3…2…1…