Page 60 of Heart’s Prisoner

"I know."

"He had no vitals, he wasn't breathing, how could he...?"

Lana shook her head. "I don't know, I don't..." she frowned and a thought came to her. A memory of her and Xerus' sessions. Of them talking about his physical traits.

And then she knew.

"His pores. Oh god, he had told me straight to my face and I didn't even think..." Lana breathed. Dahlia gave her a confused look. "He has this way of absorbing oxygen into his skin. He must have absorbed enough to slow his heart rate so low our machines couldn't detect it. And he didn't need his lungs for breath with the oxygen already stored in his body."

"He could do that?"

"He said his kind used it to traverse through water and low oxygen environments." Lana rubbed her temples. "I would have never believed though that he could use the trait to such extreme measures."

"Well," Dahlia said. "We know now. Too bad we hadn't figured it out in time. Not that it would have mattered. He would have just been let out like the others. But guess one thing he can't do is predict the future."

Lana couldn't help laughing. "Yea. One thing."

"Do you think he can somehow get in here?"

"I don't think. I know. He will find a way. We need to get out of the base entirely if we want to avoid any encounters and remain unscathed."

"But they aren't letting anyone leave, correct?"

Lana shook her head. "No.

"Even though you've told them about what happened?"

"Pretty much."

Dahlia closed her eyes and sighed. "It's no surprise. They have to stick to the mandatory procedures. Emergency or no." She slid back down and curled up on the mat given to her. "All we can do is wait."

Lana pursed her lips but decidedly said nothing, letting Dahlia fall back to sleep. But inside she was on the edge of erupting. She was done with waiting.

***

Everything was quiet for some time after and somehow Lana was able to gain an hour of sleep, albeit not deep by any means. When she opened her eyes she noticed the officers grouped tightly around the Scibot, watching its screen. They must have finally accessed the live video feeds.

Quietly, Lana unlatched from the wall and crept over, pretending to grab water at one of the food supply crates. From her vantage point, she could see they were flipping through different screens showing different hallways, corridors, and rooms. Most were completely vacant. Some of the rooms had been destroyed, with debris scattered all over the floor but no one was in sight. She couldn't quite follow which levels they were observing until they switched the feed to that of an entrance hall and she recognized it immediately.

"The warning call was from here I think," said one of the officers. "Shit. Looks like we aren't taking any of the injured to medical..."

Lana watched with horror as several of the blue raptors from unit five traversed the main foyer and halls of level six. The sliding door was ripped open and hanging off the door frame behind them. The officers flipped through other sections of the facility to discover some parts destroyed and others still intact but with raptors slipping in and out of view. Broken lights flickered and a few pipes, torn from the walls, belted out steam. They flipped to another view and Lana saw the door to Nicole's study wrenched open, showing darkness within.

Lana pressed a hand to her mouth so as not to make a sound.

Nicole. Oh, god had she been in there when the raptors came? Lana hadn't even had a moment to think about her friend in all the chaos until now. Silently, she slipped back over to one corner with few people and took out her phone. She selected Nicole's number and held the phone to her ear, praying that Nicole hadn't been in the medical bay at the time. That she had been off work and in her room.

A low ring sounded for several moments, far longer than usual. Lana was about to hang up when she heard a sharp click on the other end.

"L-Lana," came a soft, hushed voice laced with panic.

Lana clutched her phone tightly and turned her head toward the wall. "Nicole?" she said in a low voice. "Nicole, where are you?"

There was a low moan, then the rough grating of metal. "I-I'm in one of the operating rooms on six."

Lana closed her eyes. "Okay. Are you secure in one of the rooms?"

"The door is shut now...I don't think they can get in but..." There was another low moan.

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