Please Stand By ❲PROVEN - PACK❳

The woman tilted her head. “You have a choice. You can join us. It’s peaceful. No more loneliness, no more confusion. Or—” She gestured to the stairwell. “You can walk out the emergency exit on the roof. The fire ladder still works. Manual override. I can’t follow you there. None of us can. Not yet.”

Please Stand By.

The green-eyed woman’s smile didn’t waver. “The update isn’t finished. We’re still expanding. But for now… you have a head start.”

She was the only one not standing by.

Twenty minutes later, Lena found the security office. The guard, Mr. Hendricks, was slumped in his chair—not dead, but not quite awake either. His eyes were half-open, tracking something invisible on the ceiling. His badge dangled from his neck, and on his chest monitor, the green words pulsed softly.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the woman said without turning around.

She walked to the stairwell. The door, usually a push-bar away from freedom, was deadlocked. A small screen beside it displayed the same words: Please Stand By.

No footsteps. No keyboard clatter. No distant office gossip. Just the low hum of the ventilation system, now running slower than usual, like a giant breathing in its sleep.