Chapter 12 - THE DOOR THAT SHOULD NEVER OPENThe air inside the archive grew warmer.
Lucie could hear Mara struggling to breathe.
Valois searched the shelves for anything that might help them reach the ventilation controls.
The warning light continued flashing.
"How long?" Lucie asked.
Valois examined the emergency display.
"I don't know. But we need to get out."
Lucie forced herself to remain calm.
Panic would not open the door.
Anger would not restore the air.
She needed to think.
She remembered something Julien had once told her.
Every electronic system has a weakness. But most people look for the wrong one.
She examined the door.
The lock was electronic.
The hinges were reinforced.
But the maintenance access panel beside the frame was old.
Older than the rest of the system.
She removed the panel.
Inside were wires and a manual emergency release.
"Valois, flashlight."
He handed it to her.
She studied the mechanism.
"I think I can open it."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
Mara laughed weakly.
"That's reassuring."
Lucie pulled the emergency lever.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
The mechanism shifted.
A small metallic click echoed through the room.
Then the door opened.
Cool air rushed inside.
Mara nearly collapsed.
Valois supported her.
Lucie stepped into the corridor.
For the first time, she understood how Julien had survived three years inside Building D.
He had studied every weakness.
Every neglected mechanism.
Every place where an old system connected to a new one.
He had turned the prison's complexity against its owners.
And now she was doing the same.
They reached the lower laboratory.
Through a glass wall, Lucie saw Julien standing beside a computer terminal.
Voss watched him closely.
Two guards stood near the entrance.
Bellamy lay on a stretcher in the corner, receiving treatment from a frightened nurse.
He was alive.
Barely.
Lucie examined the room.
A large display showed the database transfer.
TRANSFER COMPLETE: 87%
The countdown showed eleven minutes.
Julien was typing.
Lucie knew he wasn't cooperating willingly.
His expression was too focused.
Too deliberate.
He was preparing something.
Valois leaned close.
"We can enter through the service door."
Lucie shook her head.
"Not yet."
Mara looked at her.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Julien."
On the other side of the glass, Julien glanced toward the security camera.
Then he tapped three times against the desk.
A pause.
Two taps.
Another pause.
Three taps.
Lucie's heart accelerated.
Their childhood signal.
He knew she was nearby.
She looked toward the maintenance panel.
A small screen displayed a message.
WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL.
Lucie nodded.
Julien returned to the terminal.
Voss approached him.
"How much longer?"
"Two minutes."
"You've had three years to learn obedience, Mr. Serrano."
Julien didn't look up.
"And you've had three years to learn that I don't obey criminals."
Voss struck him across the face.
Lucie flinched.
Julien slowly turned back to the screen.
He smiled.
"That was a mistake."
Voss frowned.
"What?"
The laboratory lights suddenly turned blue.
Every monitor displayed the same message.
EVIDENCE PRESERVATION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.
Voss stared at the screen.
"What have you done?"
Julien stood.
"Something I should have done three years ago."
The system began copying the research records to multiple protected locations.
Patient identities.
Financial transactions.
Internal communications.
Unauthorized medical records.
Everything.
Voss rushed toward the terminal.
Julien stepped in front of her.
"It's too late."
She raised her gun.
Lucie opened the service door.
"Drop it!"
Voss turned.
For one second, their eyes met.
Then the laboratory erupted into chaos.
One guard lunged toward Lucie.
Valois tackled him.
Mara pulled the nurse away from the fighting.
Julien grabbed Voss's wrist.
The gun discharged.
The sound was deafening.
Lucie saw Julien stumble.
Then Voss broke free.
She ran toward the emergency exit.
Lucie rushed to her brother.
"Julien!"
He looked down at his shirt.
Blood spread across his chest.
He tried to speak.
But no sound came.
Lucie caught him as he fell.
"Stay with me!"
His eyes found hers.
He whispered:
May you like
"DON'T FOLLOW HER. SAVE THE PATIENTS."
End of Chapter 12 — Cliffhanger: Julien has been shot again, Voss is escaping, and the patients remain trapped as the transfer reaches its final stage.
