The air was colder in the lower levels of NovaTech labs. Alisha Carr descended the final steel staircase without a word, the echo of her footsteps swallowed by the thick concrete walls and layers of electromagnetic shielding that blocked all forms of external tracking.This was a place built to be invisible. No lights marked its entrance, no signs pointed the way. Only she knew this path, and only one person waited at the end of it.A heavy pressure door slid open with a hydraulic hiss, revealing a dimly lit chamber filled with slow-blinking monitors and pulsating interface lights. At the center of the room stood a large pod, glass-fronted and cylindrical, framed by steel support arms and biometric stabilizers. Inside, suspended in a pale blue fluid, was a humanoid figure. He was tall and slender, his skin faintly luminous with a soft silver tint. His eyes were closed, his features peaceful, though the faintest furrow remained between his brows.