I closed my eyes, and for a second, I smelled smoke.

I saw the staircase engulfed in orange light, heard a woman screaming.

“There was no fire,” I said, opening my eyes.

“It was a simulation,” Raymond agreed.

“A stress-test to lock the memories in place.”

“We need to trigger the recall sequence.”

“It requires a specific auditory and visual prompt.”

I looked at Mara, who had opened her eyes and was watching us with a look of horror.

“Natalie,” Mara said, her voice weak.

“If he does this, what happens to your mind?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

Raymond took a step toward a heavy bookshelf on the far wall.

“We don’t have time to debate,” he said.

“Voss will be here soon.”

He pulled a leather-bound book from the shelf, and a hidden latch clicked.

The bookshelf swung forward, revealing a heavy steel door set into the stone wall.

“The terminal is downstairs,” Raymond said.

“It is connected to the old secure network.”

“If we can unlock the files, we can broadcast them directly to the Senate oversight server.”