Tony Stackhouse watched the Suburban creep toward the Institute, thinking too late that Luke Ellis’s flash drive might no longer be in the vehicle. Accepting there was no alternative plan, he held position between the bus and the flagpole amid the intensifying psychic hum.

As the vehicle reached the driveway, Stackhouse studied the driver through the clear windshield. At roughly twenty yards, he recognized the backward cap band and a frantic stop gesture, and understood he had been deceived: the driver was Julia Sigsby, not Tim Jamieson. The Suburban halted and started to back up.

Stackhouse raised his hand, apologizing aloud to Sigsby, and triggered the ambush. Shooters in the admin building and the trees opened fire on the vehicle, following the plan to kill the driver and rake the Suburban.

Simultaneously, at the rear of Front Half, Gladys Hickson executed the fallback gas attack. She uncovered two bleach buckets beneath the HVAC unit serving Back Half and the access tunnel, poured in toilet bowl cleaner, stirred, and covered the setup with a tarp to channel the reaction.

After setting the chemical mix, Gladys ran for Front Half’s East Wing with stinging eyes. As she crossed the roof, she felt it shifting or heaving beneath her feet, suggesting the building itself was moving—likely a result of the mounting psychic forces.