Chapter 13 - The Children Behind the Wall
The Nursery existed beyond the coolant tunnel.
Thomas claimed he had never seen it.
Audrey no longer trusted his claims.
Engineers drained the passage and opened the hidden door with emergency equipment. The entrance had been concealed behind a rotating section of concrete wall.
Beyond it, warm lights illuminated a corridor painted with clouds and stars.
Children’s names were written on the walls.
Some had dates beside them.
Others had only numbers.
Subject 308.
Subject 309.
Subject 310.
The corridor opened into a living area containing small beds, toys, schoolbooks, and medical equipment.
Dust covered most surfaces.
But one bed had been used recently.
A cup of water stood beside it.
Fresh fruit rested on a tray.
Someone had been living there.
Audrey called Julian’s name.
No answer.
Chloe guided them through security cameras, though parts of the Nursery remained disconnected from the main Helix network.
Mara found a set of audio journals.
The recordings belonged to Vale.
In them, he documented the early trials.
Subject 314 demonstrated extraordinary neural adaptability.
Subject 315 rejected the interface.
Subject 316 retained memory fragments from the previous host.
Audrey stopped the recording.
“Previous host?”
Thomas took the device.
His face tightened as he listened.
“The Nursery was a continuation program.”
“You said there were only twelve subjects.”
“There were only twelve authorized subjects.”
“Vale continued after you left.”
“Yes.”
Mara searched the patient database.
Subject 315 had died at age six.
Subject 316 survived.
No name was listed.
The most recent entry had been made two weeks earlier.
Transfer readiness confirmed.
Host is stable.
Kessler has approved family retrieval.
Audrey looked at Thomas.
“What family?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know more than you are saying.”
“I suspected the project continued, but not here.”
Audrey moved deeper into the Nursery.
At the far end, they found Julian.
He sat against a locked door, barely conscious, with ice burns across his arms. A young woman knelt beside him.
She appeared to be in her early twenties. Her hair was dark and unevenly cut. A medical bracelet surrounded her wrist.
When Audrey raised her weapon, the woman moved in front of Julian.
“Don’t hurt him.”
“Step away.”
“He helped me.”
“Who are you?”
The woman looked toward Thomas.
Her face filled with fear.
“That is the man from the recordings.”
Thomas stared at her.
“What is your subject number?”
“Three-sixteen.”
Audrey lowered her weapon slightly.
“What is your name?”
The woman touched her chest.
“They call me Grace.”
Mara stopped breathing.
Her mother’s name.
Grace looked at Mara.
Then her expression changed.
Recognition.
Not ordinary recognition.
Memory.
“You sang by the lake,” Grace whispered.
Mara’s eyes filled with tears.
“What?”
“The day Lily fell into the water. You sang because she was scared of swimming.”
Mara stepped closer.
“How do you know that?”
Grace touched the medical port behind her ear.
“Lily remembers.”
Audrey understood.
Subject 316 had received fragments copied from Chloe.
From Lily.
Mara’s missing sister existed in two bodies.
Chloe, who had lived the life.
Grace, who carried stolen memories.
Julian regained consciousness and explained what happened in the tunnel. He had pulled the override lever, expecting the coolant to kill him. Instead, a hidden door opened and Grace dragged him into the Nursery.
She had been living there under Vale’s supervision.
“Vale said I would be moved soon,” Grace said.
“Moved where?” Audrey asked.
“To the family.”
“What family?”
“He said my original family was ready to receive me.”
Mara looked ill.
“They were going to send her to my parents.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Your parents may not know.”
Grace reached beneath the bed and removed a black envelope.
“Vale left this for Evelyn.”
Audrey opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Evelyn,
Kessler has accelerated the schedule. Audrey’s investigation cannot be contained. Use Julian if necessary. Retrieve 314 and destroy 316. The family must never learn there are two surviving versions.
S.V.
Grace read the fear on Audrey’s face.
“He wanted her to kill me?”
“Yes.”
Julian laughed weakly.
“Mother probably would have.”
Audrey looked at him.
“You helped Evelyn come here.”
“I thought we were retrieving records that would prove Dad ruined our family.”
“You attacked Chloe before that.”
“I thought the implant contained access to an account.”
“You tried to cut it out.”
His eyes dropped.
“I know.”
Audrey wanted to hate him without complication.
But he had entered the coolant tunnel.
He had saved Chloe.
One act did not erase years of cruelty.
Yet it changed what might happen next.
Thomas examined Grace’s medical port.
“She cannot leave without support equipment.”
“We’re taking her to the hospital,” Audrey said.
“No ordinary hospital can manage the interface.”
“Then tell them how.”
“I may not know enough.”
“You created the system.”
“Vale changed it.”
Grace suddenly gripped the side of her head.
The lights flickered.
Chloe’s voice came through the speakers.
“Someone is entering the hospital.”
Audrey grabbed her radio.
“Who?”
“I can’t see their face.”
The hospital cameras turned one by one toward a figure walking through the restricted corridor.
The person wore a doctor’s coat.
Security officers passed without stopping them.
The figure entered Chloe’s room.
The camera finally caught their face.
Audrey stared at the monitor.
The man was Samuel Vale.
He leaned toward Chloe’s unconscious body and placed a black device against her implant.
Then he looked directly into the camera.
May you like
“Come home, Lily.”
Every screen in the Nursery went dark.
