Liam stopped. Slowly, dangerously, he looked over his shoulder. "Remove your hand before I redesign it."
Liam pressed the call button again, but instead of the usual mechanical rumble, the lift arrived with a sharp, impatient chime. The doors slid open, revealing an interior that was never designed for the sheer mass of four Alphas and one very irritated engineer.
"Four," Rex noted, eyeing the brass occupancy plate. "The limit is four."
"And yet," Noah said, stepping in anyway and wedging himself into the back corner next to Mezos, "here we are, five people with a shared destiny and a very tight schedule. Mezos, move your elbow."
"Liam," Rex said, sounding like he was reciting a prayer for patience, "get in. I'll operate the manual override so the weight sensor doesn't trigger the lockdown."
