The glare of the video feeds didn’t reveal anything new. Yelich itched at the fresh scar at the nape of his neck from the Null implant. The damn thing tickled at the slightest hint of sweat. Perspiration dotted his wrinkled brow, cold against his flush skin. How many cigarettes had he smoked in the last twenty-four hours? The last forty-eight? He was going to need those new lungs much sooner than anticipated at this rate. He rubbed his chest where his taxed heart threatened to explode. He might as well get a whole new body while he was at it, something younger and better looking. David swore by it.

“Maybe I will…” he said aloud.

“Sir?” asked Silver from beside him.

Yelich shook his head, disarmed by the question. “How long has he been down there?”

Silver’s eyes went distant as he consulted his internal processor. “Almost twelve hours exactly, Sir.”

Yelich pressed fingers to his strained eyes. “I imagine he has failed then. He’s not going to be happy about that. God…”

Silver frowned. “What do we do? A full tactical breach and assault of the floor?”

“Too dangerous,” replied Yelich. “He could take over their minds and send them after us. God, we shouldn’t even be here!” said the scientist, throwing his hands in the air. “He could take anyone of you, and I wouldn’t be the wiser!”

“We could still purge the lower levels,” said Silver.

Yelich nodded. “A token effort perhaps… Full purge, then we wait and see if junior pulls through.”

“And then?”

“We pull the pin on the building. Blow the elevators. Fill the shafts and stairs with concrete.”

Silver recoiled. “There’s hundreds of sleeping kids down there. We can’t abandon them.”

“We will have to for now. This whole operation is compromised with that rogue telepath on the loose. We’ll have to think of something else… Maybe a Null that has a greater area of effect…”

“We should do it now then, if you believe it is that bad.”

Yelich nodded. “Start the purge. I’ll talk to the staff about evacuating.”

“And the security? Do we pull back from the maintenance shaft?”

“No. Pull the Programmed guarding the lot and bring them inside. If anything, we should put a few roadblocks between him and us.”

“And the emergency staircase? What if he climbs that?”

Yelich tapped his chin. “Keep it locked, obviously. Double the patrol covering the surface exit as a precaution.”

Silver hesitated before walking away to find the operational crew in charge of the building’s security systems. Yelich lit another cigarette and blew a thick plume of smoke in the air, giving a brief, satisfied sigh as the nicotine hit his veins. He turned on his heel, scanning the vicinity for someone suitable to talk to. McCarthy walked towards the labs with a can of coffee in hand, his face drawn and haggard, body shaking with fatigue.

“Dan!” shouted Yelich. “Come here a second!”

McCarthy froze as if the authorities had him in their crosshairs. He looked at Yelich from the corner of his eyes, took a deep breath to calm himself and approached the senior man.

“Sir?”

“How long would it take us to evacuate the building?” asked Yelich in a low voice.

“We’ve only got a skeleton crew at the moment. If you’re not worried about the research, we could be out of here in minutes.”

“And if I am concerned about the research?”

McCarthy shrugged. “Hours. Days. There is a metric tonne of data, samples and prototypes on level two, not to mention everything down below…”

“Forget everything in the lower labs. It’s beyond our abilities right now,” said Yelich. “Focus on what we can move. Practically. Back everything digital up and secure every vial or tincture you deem important. Those clones that are on ice are vitally important.”

McCarthy deflated and looked at his feet. “It’s a skeleton crew, Sir…”

“I’ll muster up as much help as I can, but we need to get out of here. Fast.”

McCarthy nodded. “Understood.”

“Good. I’ll advise the heads and bring in some more carriers for the haul,” he said, intending the conversation to be done with.

McCarthy lingered; body poised to move but stuck with inertia. He licked his lips. “Does… this mean we’re moving permanently? A lot of us have family here…”

Yelich craned his head up to the ceiling, unable to look the man in the eye. “I don’t know.”

McCarthy shook his head and left; his shoulders slouched as if he carried a great burden. Yelich reached for his phone. He had another difficult conversation to make. He punched in the number with sweaty, shaking fingers.

“Yeah. David, we need to talk…”