The emergency lights flickered back to life as the team gathered in the broadcast chamber. Ji Woo’s voice, steady but relieved, crackled through the comms. “Systems stable. Pulse suppressed. You did it.”

Rae leaned against the wall, panting. “Remind me never to jump into a neural deathtrap again.”

Rin exhaled slowly, standing tall over Reika, who lay cuffed and conscious. “Is there anyone else waiting in the wings?”

Reika gave a faint smirk. “You’re asking the wrong question. It’s not who—it’s when.”

They ignored her.

Ji Woo guided them through the exit route. “Extraction sub is three minutes out. Make your way to the south dock.”

They moved as a unit, Reika bound and silent between them.

The facility’s pressure locks hissed open, revealing the dock bathed in deep blue bioluminescent lighting. Water lapped softly against the sub’s hull as the retrieval hatch opened.

Ji Woo waited inside, laptop still open, fingers flying across the keys. “I’m wiping the rest of the system. Nothing from this lab survives.”

Rae helped Reika into the sub, securing her in the containment pod. “Let’s bury this whole place beneath the waves.”

Rin nodded. “And salt the memory.”

As the sub ascended, the research station receded into darkness, the pulse generator a gutted relic at its core.

Back on land, international news outlets scrambled to interpret the strange shutdown of communication satellites in the North Sea. Officials claimed a cyber attack. The Do Legacy Network gave no comment.

In Seoul, Bong Soon embraced her daughters the moment they stepped off the transport.

“You’re safe,” she whispered. “That’s all that matters.”

Min Hyeok wrapped them all in a silent hug.

Rae broke first. “We brought someone back with us.”

Rin added, “And maybe ended something no one else even knew started.”

Ji Woo checked her tablet. “Not ended. Contained. But the future’s watching now. We’ve got to keep it guarded.”

That night, high above the city, the sisters stood beneath the stars.

Rae looked out. “Think we’ll ever be done?”

Rin shook her head. “But we’ll be ready.”

And for once, that was enough.