"Adrian!" Monica called out, her voice full of worry as she rushed toward the viewing window. Inside the reinforced testing room, Adrian remained buried beneath a cloud of dust and broken concrete. The impact had left a large crack in the reinforced wall behind him, and small pieces of debris continued to fall onto the floor. Nobody spoke. Cobe shifted uncomfortably where he stood, Doctor Mitch swallowed hard before pressing the microphone. "Barry." He called carefully, "Can you check on him quickly?" Barry nodded and cautiously walked toward the dust cloud. "Adrian?" There was no answer. He took another few steps, then suddenly stopped. Two bright green lights slowly appeared through the dust, Barry immediately recognized them. Adrian's eyes. They weren't glowing normally either, they were so bright they almost looked like headlights cutting through the smoke. The room fell completely silent. "Say, Doc..." Adrian's calm voice echoed through the chamber. Doctor Mitch immed

"Pandora, huh?" Adrian leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. "Sounds dangerous." "It is." Barry replied as he threw both hands into the air. "That file holds the dirty secrets of members of the UCA, I can't even imagine all the nasty things we'll find in there." Adrian rested his chin on his hand, thinking carefully. "If Kendall Sterling is in possession of the file, then why does he have his own secrets on there?" He asked, looking around the room. "I'd erase my own stuff to make it impossible to trace back to me." Michael gave a small nod. "Kendall may have the file, but I'm certain it wasn't his decision alone to include himself. It was probably a collective decision among the founders.” He blinked, “Think about it. To make the biggest impact as a leader, sometimes you have to make yourself vulnerable to the people following you. If everyone has something to lose, everyone stays loyal. That's the surest way to command respect." Adrian slowly nodded as the e

Aurora City. Government Building. One of Isaac's secretaries walked into his office carrying a tablet. He stopped beside the large desk and cleared his throat. "Sir, Ezekiel Vesley would like to speak with you through a secure executive video conference." Isaac didn't even look up from the document he was signing, "Tell that UCA bastard to fuck off." He finally looked at the secretary with a straight face. "Put it in those exact words, you hear me?" The secretary nodded without hesitation. "Yes, sir." He turned around and quietly left the office to deliver the message exactly as instructed. Gordon watched the door close before looking back at Isaac. "They're pretty persistent. The prison island should've been enough reason not to seek an alliance with you. Yet, they still keep trying." Isaac leaned back in his chair with a scoff. "They can try all they want. I'm not joining the UCA, Novaris will never become a part of their nonsense." His voice carried complete confidence, there

Silence filled the car. Barry simply stared at him, unable to process what he had heard. "What…? I thought things were going fine with you two." "I thought so too." Michael looked out through the window before continuing, "But I've been somewhat inconsiderate of her this whole time." He rubbed his forehead. "...And it's making me angry at myself for not realizing it sooner." Barry frowned deeply, "Hold on. What are you talking about?" Michael slowly ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't fully understand what she meant when she asked for some space. So... I had someone quietly look into it." He swallowed, "Turns out the people around her haven't been making life easy. Her fellow trainees... Even some of her superiors..." He paused before forcing the last words out. "They bullied and ridiculed her because of me." Barry slowly exhaled, he could picture it immediately. Celia wasn't just Celia anymore. To everyone around her, she was Michael Scofield's girlfriend. With everything

Adrian quietly led the way through the maintenance hallway, stopping every few steps to listen for footsteps before moving again. Max stayed close behind exactly as instructed. The building was much larger on the inside than it looked from outside. Long corridors stretched in every direction, lined with spotless white walls and polished floors that reflected the ceiling lights. Every now and then, employees in lab coats passed through nearby hallways, forcing the two men to duck behind storage shelves or slip into empty utility rooms until the coast was clear. They continued deeper into the building, carefully avoiding security patrols. Adrian kept track of every camera they encountered, he silently counted the seconds each one spent turning before signaling Max across the blind spots. The routine was almost rhythmic. Stop, watch, move, hide and repeat. It took patience more than speed, and Adrian never rushed a single step. Eventually they reached a wider corridor where two arm