The second lock beneath the chamber did not open immediately.It groaned.As if whatever had been sealed there had resisted release for years and now objected to movement itself.The sound spread through the walls, through the steel under their feet, through the fractured glass hanging loose around the chamber.Everyone felt it.Even Lyra turned her head slightly, listening.The prototypes around her remained perfectly still now, twenty bodies waiting for command, their eyes fixed not on father, not on Aurelia, but on the widening seam in the lower floor.Victor stepped closer to Aurelia.“This place keeps producing things no one should have built.”Marcus exhaled sharply. “At this point I miss ordinary murder attempts.”Father did not answer either of them.His full attention stayed on the floor.For the first time since appearing, authority no longer sat naturally on him. It looked forced now, as though he understood that whatever came next belonged to an older mistake than even Lyr
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