THE DAY THE PAST CAME BACK TO THE PLAYGROUND WITH A TATTOOED HAND AND A PROMISE

The blinding flash and deafening roar of the grenade faded into a high-pitched ringing in Sarah’s ears. Thick, acrid smoke rolled down the concrete culvert, choking her throat and burning her eyes.

“Move! Now!” Jax’s voice cut through the haze, grabbing Sarah by the arm and hauling her past a rusted junction box where Emma was huddled, coughing and crying softly.

They scrambled the remaining distance through the dark pipe until they hit a heavy iron service grate at the far end. Jax didn't hesitate. He raised the butt of his pistol and smashed it against the rusted latch with a violent, metal-shreeching impact.

The lock shattered. Jax kicked the grate outward, tumbling through into a cavernous, dimly lit subterranean room of concrete and steel pipes.

Sarah scrambled out immediately, pulling Emma behind her into the sterile, hum-filled environment of the black site's sub-level utility floor. She slammed the iron grate shut behind them and dropped a heavy steel security bar across it just as muffled shouting echoed from far down the drainage pipe.

“Where... where are we?” Sarah whispered, her chest heaving as she looked around at the towering banks of server racks, overhead conduits, and blinking diagnostic lights.

“Sector Four maintenance hub,” Jax said, checking his pistol magazine and slamming it back into place with a sharp click. “We’re inside the perimeter. Now we find the elevator shaft that leads down to maximum security.”

Emma clutched her stuffed rabbit tightly in one hand, looking around the massive, industrial room with wide, unblinking eyes. “Mommy, are we going to see daddy now?”

Sarah knelt down, brushing the soot from her daughter’s forehead, forcing a reassuring smile onto her face despite the terror gripping her soul. “Yes, baby. We’re going to find him very soon.”

Jax strode over to a gray steel maintenance terminal bolted to the wall. He pulled a small USB drive from his pocket and jammed it into the data port. The monitor flickered to life, bathing his bearded face in a pale green phosphor glow.

“Accessing internal schematics,” Jax muttered under his breath, his calloused fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard with surprising speed. Lines of green code scrolled down the screen at blinding velocity.

“How long before they realize we bypassed the exterior gate?” Sarah asked, standing guard near the stairwell door, her eyes fixed on the dim corridor beyond.

“About three minutes,” Jax replied without looking up. “The flashbang tripped the internal seismic sensors. The entire base is going on lockdown as we speak.”

Suddenly, a loud alarm klaxon began to pulse through the facility—not a screaming siren, but a deep, rhythmic, low-frequency hum accompanied by flashing amber strobe lights mounted along the ceiling.

Warning: Unauthorized Access Sector Four. Facility Lockdown Initiated.

“There,” Jax said, pointing triumphantly at the monitor as a floor plan flashed on the screen with a blinking red dot. “Cell block Delta. Sub-level nine. That’s where they’re holding Daniel. And the transport elevator leaves in ten minutes.”

Sarah gripped the door handle of the stairwell, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She looked at Jax, knowing there was no turning back.

“Let’s go get him,” she whispered.