Page 80 of Hollow State

And sometimes hope was all they had when they were bleeding out.

She'd learned to put on strong armor and a mask made of steel. When she'd climbed into that van at the start of the mission, she had a healthy dose of nerves. But since she'd stepped into Hyperion's main offices, those nerves had stayed behind. It was an odd sensation.

"There's a rack of removable drives on the north wall," Coulter said. "Bagged and labeled exactly the way you said. We're ready to pull. Just say the word."

"Not yet," Zadie said, without looking up.

"We need the encrypted files from my office first," Gideon said. "As long as we do this methodically, it’ll take Finch a long time before he realizes we took pieces of the core."

"Still gibberish," Neve said.

Wynn watched the numbers climb on Zadie's screen. A bolt of adrenaline shot through her chest, sharp and fast, like she'd stood up too quickly.

"Wynn," Darwin's voice came over the comms, his tone penetrating. "Some of your metrics jumped. What happened?"

"Technically, nothing." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Except staring at code on three screens is making me jittery. Or maybe antsy is a better word."

"You're saying you're overstimulated?" Darwin asked.

"Maybe." She rubbed her eye. "I want to get what we came for, and I really want to be outside this building. Standing still is making me crazy."

"I need you to take a few calming breaths," Darwin said.

"Are my numbers bad?"

"All in the normal zone, just borderline. But you were the only one who showed a change," Darwin said. "If things don't settle, we're going to need to make an adjustment. Okay?"

"Alright." She took a few deep breaths. She didn't want to be pulled. But she sure as hell didn't want the drugs to kill her. "Better?"

"Consistent," Darwin said. "I expect your numbers to be slightly different because of AXS-1, so don't stress over this. I'm just being cautious."

"I do feel like I see and hear my surroundings more intensely," she admitted.

"Same. And my fingers are literally flying across the keyboard," Zadie said. "I'm typing faster than I've ever been able to before."

"Contact. Hallway," Scout's voice cut through the comms. "Six guards, coming at a fast pace."

Wynn brought her rifle up.

"The two guards from the data center just turned and ran out the door," Coulter said. "Recommend we go to plan B."

"I can cause a distraction," Scout said. "Open and close the staircase door."

"That door's alarmed, and if you open it, every security guard's cellphone in this building lights up," Gideon said. "Give me five seconds."

"Better hurry," Scout said. "They’re halfway down the corridor."

"Five, four, three, two… open door," Gideon said.

Wynn strained but heard nothing. Holding her weapon, she stood near the door and waited, all while trying to maintain even breathing.

"Four went into the staircase," Scout said. "Two more just ran down the hall and around the corner. I'm in the alcove. They didn't see me. I suspect they're doing a sweep of the floor. We probably have ten minutes before they're back."

Wynn let out her breath in a big whoosh.

"Neve, Coulter," Gideon said. "I think you should get back to the main building and hopefully we can get to the core again later."

"What's going on?" Neve asked.