EXT. REDGATE FACILITY – NIGHT The rain had stopped, but steam still hissed from every grate and broken pipe. Lena stood on the edge of Redgate's collapsed perimeter wall, the wind cold against her face. Behind her, Briggs, Dr. Rho, and two other survivors stood ready—armed, exhausted, and changed. BRIGGS (loading his shotgun): "Never thought I'd come back to this hellhole." "This time, we finish it." DR. RHO (pointing at his map): "There's a ventilation shaft on Sub-Level 3. It connects directly to the core containment vault. That's where they're keeping her." "And what if she's… already turned?" INT. REDGATE – INNER LEVELS They moved fast—through broken labs, flickering corridors, past writing scrawled in blood: "She sees. She remembers. She infects." A severed ID badge still clung to a wall panel: Dr. J. Murrow – Xenopathics Division. "They're using her DNA to merge cognitive traits with the virus. She's not just infected. She's aware." Suddenly—alarms howled. "Level 3 breach. Emergency lockdown failure. Harbinger unit en route." "They know we're here." INT. SUB-LEVEL 3 – CORE VAULT Explosions echoed above as the team slid into a circular vault chamber. At its center—a containment cradle. Inside: the girl, suspended in a glass pod. Eyes closed. Wires in her veins. A screen flickered to life. Mouse's voice played back distorted. "You brought them to me. Like you always were meant to." The lights snapped red. Doors slammed shut. "She's broadcasting… from inside her own containment." The girl's eyes opened. They weren't human anymore. INT. REDGATE – COMBAT SEQUENCE Harbingers poured in—dozens. Briggs and the others held the line. Lena sprinted toward the pod. "We're not leaving you here!" The girl whispered something—but the speakers only translated static. The cradle began to glow. "She's triggering a network breach—infecting the external defense grid. They're trying to turn Redgate into a beacon." "Shut it down, or this whole place lights up like a plague flare!" INT. CONTAINMENT CRADLE Lena climbed up, glass cracking under her weight. She yanked out a power core, sparks flying. The hum died. The girl's eyes closed again—and for a moment, her face softened. Then the roof cracked open—an aerial extraction unit descending. "Subject secured. Commence neutralization." "Get everyone out. Now." She grabbed the girl's limp body and jumped as the cradle exploded. EXT. REDGATE – PERIMETER The building lit up behind them in bursts of fire and collapsing steel. Lena crawled from the debris, clutching the girl—still breathing. "She's ours now. Whatever they turned her into—we fix it." In the distance, Harbinger dropships circled. "This war just got personal." Lena looked up at the red sky. "Arc I is over. Now the real fight begins."