"Then that's it. We're going to the donor center."
"There's Container 47."
"There'll be more evidence. And that's where Corvin ends."
"But it's not just a club… We take the samples, destroy the lab, and get out with all the material."
Ethan stood up. His legs still trembled from exhaustion, but something burned in his chest.
"Tomorrow night we finish this…"
They looked at each other.
Flash sat on a crate opposite Ethan. He stayed silent longer than usual, fingers drumming unevenly on his knee, the rhythm faltering as if something inside him was breaking apart and reassembling.
His breathing was heavy, ragged, like a man who had just run a kilometer underwater.
He wasn't looking at Ethan, he looked through him, into the emptiness where the scan of the contract still hung.
Ethan sat across from him, elbows on his knees, hands still shaking after everything that had happened in the bunker.
His shoulder throbbed, the bandage soaked with blood, but he didn't notice. He watched Flash and waited. Waited for him to speak.
Because Flash always spoke last,once he had already understood everything.
"You know…" Flash finally said, voice low.
He lifted his gaze; his eyes were red,not from the light, but from something inside.
"When I saw that signature… M. R… I thought, no, that's not her, not your Maria. I refused to believe it."
"I… I just refused. But then I looked at the date. 11/12/2049."
"And the note: 'Deliver personally to Senator K.R."
"And everything… everything fell into place. Like someone turned on the lights in a dark room."
He paused. His voice cracked, barely noticeable, but Ethan heard it. Flash tried to soften it.
"Maria infiltrated Prime-Blood."
"Not as a victim, as a spy. She signed the contract to get inside."
To see everything with her own eyes, to gather evidence. She wanted to expose them.
"She wanted to drag the truth into the light. But Corvin found out."
Ethan felt his throat tighten. He leaned forward; his voice came out hoarse, almost foreign.
"He knew? How? How could he know? She was… she was always careful."
"She was always careful."
Flash gave a bitter chuckle.
"Because he always knows."
"And when Maria got too close to Container 47, to the synthetic blood, to their biggest secret… he gave the order."
To eliminate her in a way that left no suspicion on him. No evidence.
"To close the case forever."
"But why…" Ethan's voice broke, "…why didn't they destroy everything right away? Why leave the chip?"
"Why not wipe the files? Why not burn the lab?"
"Because they thought she was alone. That she was just some random person who dug too deep."
They wanted the case closed before the elections. So no one would have time to raise a stink. Corvin would become governor. And then… much higher.
"She knew she might not come back. And she left us the weapon."
Ethan felt tears sting his eyes. He wasn't crying, no. It was rage.
"She went in there alone…" His voice trembled.
"Alone!"
"She signed the contract to save us…"
Gideon, lying on the mattress, coughed quietly. His voice was weak.
Bruno stood against the wall, sledgehammer in hand. He didn't move.
Only his fist clenched and unclenched.
"Roy and his clan…" Ethan said quietly, but there was steel in his voice.
"They weren't just covering for a killer. They were following orders."
Cleaning up traces, destroying anything that could lead back to Corvin.
And to this ridiculous project.
To the synthetic blood. They knew that if even one scrap of paper surfaced, it would all be over."
Ethan felt the tears finally break through. One drop rolled down his cheek.
He didn't wipe it away. He just looked at Flash.
"So… her death wasn't an accident."
They killed her to protect the project, to keep control.
"To make sure no one ever learned what they're doing to people. That they're creating 'eternal blood'."
"Yes," Flash agreed.
"And now we know everything. We hold in our hands what she didn't have time to pass on to us."
If we reach the donor center, if we take it,we won't just get revenge.
"We'll break them."
Ethan stood.
His legs shook, but he held himself straight.
"Then tomorrow we won't let Corvin win. We'll show the world the truth."
Gideon propped himself up on one elbow; his eyes burned despite the weakness.
"She would be proud," he said, voice trembling.
Bruno nodded; his fist clenched harder.
They were silent for a very long time.
Bruno laid out the weapons. Flash checked the map. Ethan watched them and tried to help.
The hangar gradually cooled.
The generator in the far corner hummed steadily, like the heartbeat of an old beast that had lived too long and seen too much.
The red emergency lamp swayed from the draft under the ceiling, its light sometimes flooding the room with a bloody hue, sometimes retreating and leaving their faces in shadow.
No one was in a hurry to speak.
After Ethan's words, something heavy lingered in the air.
Flash sat on the crate, hunched forward, elbows on knees, fingers locked together.
He was calculating routes. Escape options. Losses.
Bruno carefully wiped the sledgehammer with a rag. As if he were cleaning not metal, but his own thoughts.
Gideon lay on the mattress, but he no longer looked broken. Only exhausted.
Ethan stood at the metal table.
In front of him lay a pistol, two magazines, a flashlight, and Maria's notebook.
*Rustle…*
He slowly opened the notebook.
The handwriting felt so familiar, he truly understood that this was Maria's.