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Elias looked at the heavy steel drawer labeled Extinct: Alpine Flora . It was hanging open. The tray was empty, save for a small, glowing sprout pushing through the frost of the metal floor. The code on the screen flickered one last time and vanished, leaving behind only the scent of fresh rain in a room that hadn't seen water in a century.

He traced the origin point. It wasn't coming from an outside hack. The signal was originating from inside the vacuum-sealed sub-level 4. Elias hurried down the sterile hallways, his breath hitching in the sub-zero air. When he reached the terminal in the vault, he saw the screen scrolling frantically. 387_79804zqtvyq

The code wasn't a virus. It was a digital "DNA signature" for a plant species declared extinct four hundred years ago. Someone—or something—had just updated the ledger to indicate that the seeds were no longer in storage. Elias looked at the heavy steel drawer labeled