They moved at dawn.
Aaron, Leon, Matt—three shapes in black, crossing the city like shadows that refused to fade.
The terminal was dead.
Or so it seemed.
They entered through a maintenance shaft, cutting through rust and old ghosts. Concrete swallowed them. Pipes hissed like snakes. The world above vanished.
Leon led. Aaron covered.
Matt… drifted.
Silent. Focused. Too calm.
They made it to the lower hall without a single alarm tripped.
Aaron whispered, "Something's wrong."
Leon nodded. "Too quiet."
Matt didn't speak.
Because he was already gone.
Literally.
The second Aaron blinked, Matt had slipped down a side tunnel.
"Matt?"
No answer.
Leon cursed. "He's pulling something."
Aaron moved. Fast. Heart pounding.
They found the door half-open. Lights flickering beyond.
Inside: Bishop's control room.
Empty.
No guards. No monitors. Just that same feeling—
Presence.
Like something watching without needing eyes.
Aaron stepped inside, gun drawn.
Then—
Clapping.
Slow.
Measured.
From the shadows, Bishop emerged.
No guards.
No weapons.
Just him.
Wearing that fucking smile.
"Aaron," he said. "Leon."
He looked past them.
"Where's Matthew?"
Aaron's voice was ice.
"You tell us."
Bishop tilted his head.
Then frowned.
"No," he said softly.
"No, this isn't right."
He stepped to the monitors. Touched the controls.
Nothing.
Dead feeds. Static. Black screens.
Leon muttered, "He already got in."
Bishop didn't respond.
He tapped another monitor.
Dead.
Another.
Dead.
Every camera. Every room.
Every piece of his system—
Offline.
Then the screens lit up.
All at once.
Matt's face.
But not live.
A recording.
He stared into the lens.
Voice calm. Measured.
> "You taught me how to destroy a man's sense of control."
> "So I used your lessons."
> "While you watched me fall… I was learning how to make you believe you'd already won."
> "And now I'm going to take from you what you never thought could be taken."
> "Fear."
The screen cut.
The door behind them slammed shut.
Gas hissed from the vents.
Bishop turned slowly.
Expression blank.
Aaron and Leon stood ready—but not for this.
And in the heart of the facility, somewhere deep inside the walls—
Matt had already lit the fuse.