The silence in the laboratory was broken by the sound of alarms throughout the facility. Not the urgent warning signals they had grown accustomed to during their battles with Octavian's forces, but different tones this time."Ava," Michael called out to the speakers, "what's happening now? Why are the alarms going off?""The facility is breaking down," Ava said. "Octavian’s attempt to merge with the master AI triggered a chain of failures throughout the network. Systems are shutting down, and I am detecting damage to the structure itself from the power surges."As if to prove her words, a crack split across the laboratory ceiling. Dust rained down onto the equipment, lights flickered wildly, and somewhere deeper in the building came the echo of collapsing metal."We need to move everyone out now," North said, his instincts as a soldier cutting through the chaos despite his injuries. "How much time do we have?""Not much," Ava answered. "Maybe an hour before the main support systems gi