**She Saw a Woman With Her Exact Face in the Woods—Then the Ground Split Open, Revealing a Secret Lab Full of Frozen Clones and Her Dead Father, Still Alive and Not a Day Older.**

Mara fell against the archive wall, clawing at the skin below her ear.

"It's burning," she gasped. "Make it stop."

Clara caught her before her head struck the floor. "Look at me. You're here. You're not alone."

Jonas checked the screen. "The remote command is coming through the local relay. Victoria must have someone at the transmitter room."

"Can't you switch it off?" Clara demanded.

"If I cut power to the whole ward, the patients lose support. We need to isolate one circuit."

Evelyn grabbed a portable medical shield from a supply rack and placed it around Mara's neck and shoulders. The blue light faded, but her breathing stayed shallow.

On the intercom, Nell spoke. "The relay cabinet is on the service balcony. Red label, not blue. Blue goes to the tanks."

"How do you know?" Jonas asked.

"I listen when they think I'm sleeping."

Clara squeezed Mara's hand. "Stay with Evelyn. I'll go."

"Wait." Mara pulled her back. "Victoria used to tell me nobody would love me unless I did exactly what she said. I believed her."

"She was wrong."

"I know that now." Mara's voice broke. "I don't want my first real choice to be my last."

Clara leaned her forehead against her sister's. "It won't be."

On the balcony, Jonas found the labeled relay. Its casing was hot enough to blister his fingers. He opened the breaker cover, checked the separate patient-support feed, and disconnected the control line. Mara's pulse steadied almost at once.

"We got it," Clara whispered.

Then the entire floor shook. A different alarm sounded, low and steady.

On every screen, an orange warning appeared.