“The power’s cut to the tool!” Julian yelled.

“The whole outlet strip just went dead!”

A heavy grinding sound echoed from the ceiling above us.

It sounded like massive metal plates sliding across stone.

“What is that noise?” I asked, holding the remaining three girls close to my legs.

“The security shutters,” Nathan said.

He walked over to the secondary monitor, which was now displaying a map of the mansion’s upper levels.

Every exit on the diagram was flashing with a bright red border.

“Claire designed a complete containment protocol for external threats,” Nathan explained.

“When the uncorrupted software detected the physical breach of the vault, it initiated a full lockdown.”

I watched the screen as the main entrance doors on the ground floor were sealed behind steel barriers.

“Where are Vanessa and Julian?” I asked.

Nathan tapped the screen, switching the view to the camera in the main atrium.

Vanessa was standing near the grand staircase, her face pale as she stared at the glass front doors.

A solid steel plate had descended from the ceiling, completely blocking the snow-covered valley outside.