Chapter 9 - The Father Who Came Back
The tactical team searched every corridor.
No one found Thomas Mercer.
Motion sensors showed movement in sections of the facility that did not appear on the building plans. Cameras activated and deactivated without warning. Locked doors opened ahead of Audrey, almost as if someone were guiding her.
Evelyn was detained.
Julian regained consciousness but refused to explain how he reached the facility. He insisted that Vale had brought him there and promised to erase the assault charges if he helped retrieve the project.
Audrey did not believe all of it.
But she believed Julian was afraid.
The team discovered a hidden elevator beneath the central laboratory. The control panel had no buttons, only a biometric scanner.
Audrey placed her hand on it.
ACCESS DENIED.
Mara tried next.
ACCESS DENIED.
Julian laughed from where an officer held him.
“It isn’t looking for fingerprints.”
“What is it looking for?” Audrey asked.
“Family.”
“You try.”
Julian pressed his hand against the scanner.
The light turned green.
The elevator doors opened.
Audrey and Mara exchanged a look.
If family access recognized Julian, Thomas had built the system using Mercer genetic markers.
Audrey entered with Julian, Mara, Lawson, and four tactical officers.
The elevator descended far below the known underground level.
When the doors opened, they faced a circular chamber lined with servers.
At its center stood a man.
He appeared thin and older, with gray hair and a beard. A scar crossed his right temple. He wore a dark coat and held no visible weapon.
Audrey knew him immediately.
Not from recent memory.
From the shape of his eyes.
“Dad.”
Thomas Mercer looked at her.
“My brave girl.”
Audrey crossed the room before anyone could stop her.
She struck him across the face.
The sound echoed through the chamber.
Thomas did not defend himself.
“You let us think you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“If I contacted you, Argus would have taken you.”
“They took Chloe anyway.”
Thomas looked toward Julian.
“I know.”
Julian stepped forward against the officer’s grip.
“You left me with them.”
“I left all of you.”
“You trained Audrey to be good. You treated Chloe like she was special. You looked at me as if I was already broken.”
Thomas’s expression was filled with pain.
“You were fourteen.”
“You blamed me.”
“You pushed a child from a landing.”
“Because she had the key.”
“You nearly killed her.”
Julian’s voice rose.
“You cared more about your project than your son.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“That may be true.”
Audrey wanted answers, but every question felt too small.
“Is Chloe your daughter?”
“Not biologically.”
“Did you steal her?”
“No. Vale brought her to the program. I believed her parents had consented.”
“When did you learn the truth?”
“Two years later.”
“Why didn’t you return her?”
“I tried.”
Thomas looked at Lawson.
“Some people stopped me.”
Lawson lowered his gaze.
“Who controls Argus?” Mara asked.
“Adrian Kessler.”
“Lawson said Kessler used false identities.”
“He does.”
“Where is he?”
Thomas gave a grim smile.
“Closer than you think.”
Audrey pointed toward the servers.
“What is stored here?”
“The original Helix architecture. Neural maps from twelve subjects. The only complete consciousness model belongs to Chloe.”
“Can it be deleted?”
“Yes.”
“Then delete it.”
Thomas did not move.
“If I do, Chloe may die.”
Audrey stared at him.
“The implant in her hip is not merely an access device. It regulates damaged pathways in her spinal cord. The network periodically corrects its function.”
“She has been away from this facility for years.”
“The corrections were transmitted remotely.”
“By whom?”
“Vale, until recently.”
Audrey understood why Chloe’s health had worsened whenever her medication changed or equipment failed.
They had never stopped monitoring her.
Thomas walked toward a glass console.
“Three months ago, Vale attempted to transfer control of Project 314 to Kessler. I returned to stop him.”
“Where have you been for sixteen years?”
“Inside Argus.”
“You worked for them?”
“I survived them.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
Thomas looked at her.
“It is not.”
A tactical officer called from the entrance.
Movement had been detected in the upper laboratory.
Then the lights changed from white to red.
Thomas turned toward the server wall.
“They found us.”
“How many?” Mara asked.
“I don’t know.”
Audrey heard automatic gunfire above.
The elevator doors closed before the officers could reach them.
The circular chamber sealed.
Thomas entered a code into the console.
A map appeared, showing tunnels beneath the forest.
“There is an emergency route.”
“We’re not leaving the evidence.”
“If Kessler reaches this chamber, the evidence will not matter.”
Julian pulled away from the officer holding him.
“What about my deal?”
Thomas looked at his son.
“There was never a deal.”
Julian drew a small knife from inside his sleeve.
He lunged toward the console.
Audrey intercepted him.
They struck the floor together.
Julian slashed upward.
The blade cut Audrey’s shoulder.
Mara kicked the knife away.
Thomas activated a security barrier, separating Julian from the control station.
“You always choose her,” Julian shouted.
Thomas’s face became cold.
“Because she still knows the difference between being wounded and becoming a monster.”
The chamber shook.
An explosive charge detonated above them.
A section of the ceiling collapsed.
Through the dust, a voice came from the emergency speaker.
“Thomas.”
Thomas froze.
The voice continued.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Audrey recognized it.
The same man who had spoken through Chloe’s hospital phone.
Mr. Gray.
May you like
Thomas whispered one name.
“Kessler.”
