The voice was calm, melodic, and terrifyingly clear.

Vanessa gasped, taking a step back.

“What is that?” she demanded.

“The house is in total lockdown,” the speaker continued.

“A direct distress signal has been routed via emergency satellite to the state police.”

“Local law enforcement has been dispatched.”

Julian panicked, spinning around toward the door.

“She’s lying!” he yelled.

“The satellite dish is covered in ice!”

“The satellite heating element was activated thirty minutes ago,” Claire’s voice replied.

“Emergency response time is four minutes.”

Julian turned to the server rack in the corner of the playroom.

“I’ll rip the hard drives out,” he said, raising his gun.

“Don’t do that,” Nathan warned, stepping back.

Julian fired three shots into the reinforced glass door of the server rack.

The glass shattered, sending glittering shards across the floor.

He reached his gloved hand inside, grabbing a bundle of blue fiber-optic cables.

A sharp, metallic hiss erupted from the top of the rack.

A thick cloud of white chemical gas sprayed directly into Julian’s face.

He screamed, dropping the gun and stumbling backward.

“My eyes!” he cried, clutching his face.