Chapter Three: Ninety-Three Lives and One Drop of Metal

True superiority was making everyone believe they had almost been capable of the same thing. With 9:06 remaining, eighty-seven people were safe. The final six points were in the northern laboratory on floor fifty-two, the center of the first explosion. The room exceeded a thousand degrees. Molten metal sealed the corridor. “How are they alive?” Zhou asked. “Independent vacuum test chamber,” Lin replied. “The door warped shut. Seven minutes of oxygen.” Zhou checked his remaining assets: seven swarm units; nineteen percent thermal capacity; six minutes before the load net failed. Refraction gave its assessment. [ABANDONING SIX INDIVIDUALS ENSURES THE SURVIVAL OF THE OTHER EIGHTY-SEVEN AND PRESERVES CONCEALMENT. THE MISSION WILL FAIL.