Chapter 13 - The Sister Who Had Her Own Plan
Lydia survived the gunshot wound.
The bullet passed through her shoulder without striking a major artery.
She recovered inside a protected medical facility under a false name, guarded by agents outside Naomi’s compromised chain of command.
When Evelyn confronted her about Anna’s activation commands, Lydia did not deny it.
“I sent the music,” she said.
“Why?”
“To determine whether the conditioning remained active.”
“You could have warned us.”
“I did not know whether Anna was working for Roland.”
“She spent her life imprisoned by him.”
“So did I. Prison changes people.”
Evelyn stood beside Lydia’s hospital bed.
“You also sent the photographs and the anonymous calls.”
“Some of them.”
“Who sent the others?”
Lydia looked toward Naomi.
“Someone calling himself the Archivist.”
Naomi asked, “Who is he?”
“I don’t know. He began contacting me three years ago. He knew details about St. Catherine’s that even I did not know.”
“Could it be Marcus?” Evelyn asked.
“No. The Archivist sent information while Marcus was under constant observation.”
“What does he want?”
“To expose Meridian.”
“That sounds helpful.”
“It isn’t that simple. He does not care who gets hurt.”
Lydia explained that the Archivist had provided the location of Roselyn, the existence of Ledger Seven, and the schedule of Meridian meetings.
He also encouraged Lydia to activate Anna and use her as a weapon against Roland.
“I refused,” Lydia said.
“Then why test the music?”
“Because if someone else activated her during the gala, we needed to know what would happen.”
Anna stood near the hospital window.
“What did happen?”
“You entered a dissociative state for forty-three seconds,” Lydia replied. “You followed a sequence of commands.”
“What commands?”
“You disabled a security grid, opened a locked door, and accessed a computer you had never consciously seen before.”
Anna’s expression remained controlled, but her hands trembled.
“What else was I trained to do?”
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa stood beside Evelyn.
“The ballroom blackout may be one of the commands.”
Lydia nodded.
“Roland’s plan requires darkness for the extraction. He may believe Anna will activate automatically.”
Naomi asked, “Can the trigger be neutralized?”
A neurological specialist believed it could be disrupted by exposing Anna to the music in a controlled environment while reinforcing alternative responses.
There was little time.
The gala began in seven hours.
Anna refused sedation.
“You need me conscious.”
“We can cancel the operation,” Naomi said.
“No,” Evelyn and Anna answered together.
They looked at each other.
Anna gave a faint smile.
“That was disturbingly synchronized.”
The specialist played the music-box melody.
Anna’s eyes unfocused.
Her breathing changed.
She turned toward the door.
Evelyn stepped into her path.
“Anna.”
No response.
“Look at me.”
Anna reached for Evelyn’s throat.
Vanessa moved forward.
Lydia shouted, “Do not touch her!”
Evelyn remained still.
Anna’s hands closed around her neck.
Naomi prepared to intervene.
Evelyn said, “You are not Subject V.”
Anna tightened her grip.
“You are not a replacement.”
The pressure increased.
Evelyn struggled to breathe.
“You are the child Lydia saved.”
Anna blinked.
Her hands loosened.
Evelyn continued.
“You decide who you become.”
Anna stepped backward.
The music stopped.
She stared at her hands in horror.
“I could have killed you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“The trigger is still active.”
“Then we change what it means.”
They repeated the exposure.
Each time the melody played, Anna experienced flashes of old commands.
Turn off the lights.
Open the service corridor.
Retrieve the target.
Assume the role.
Evelyn stood before her and repeated the same statements.
You are not a replacement.
You choose your name.
You choose the door.
By the fifth exposure, Anna remained conscious.
By the seventh, she could speak over the music.
By the ninth, she reached forward and stopped the music herself.
“I choose the door,” she said.
Lydia began to cry.
Anna looked at her.
“You saved me for three days.”
“I tried to save you longer.”
“Why didn’t you come after me?”
“I did. Richard moved you. Roland hid the facilities. After the bridge, I could barely remember my own name.”
Anna approached the bed.
“I spent years imagining the mother who abandoned me.”
“I was not your mother.”
“You were the first person who chose me.”
Lydia extended her hand.
Anna looked at it for a long time.
Then she took it.
Evelyn turned away to give them privacy.
Vanessa stood near the door.
“You always wanted a sister,” Evelyn said.
Vanessa watched Anna and Lydia.
“Not one trained to steal your face.”
“We rarely get the family we imagine.”
“No. We get the damage they leave us.”
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
“And sometimes we decide not to pass it forward.”
Vanessa nodded slowly.
Naomi received an urgent message.
Cross had entered the Halston through a loading dock using a federal credential registered to Deputy Director Rusk.
Rusk was now officially compromised.
The inspector general authorized simultaneous arrest operations.
Senator Halden would be taken at the gala.
Rusk would be arrested in Washington.
Elise Warren would be detained at the Justice Department.
Roland remained the central target.
The board members began arriving at seven.
Cameras gathered outside.
Guests filled the marble lobby.
Evelyn dressed in the black gown Anna had worn the previous night.
Vanessa entered wearing silver.
For several seconds, they stood before the mirror together.
Evelyn adjusted the clasp at the back of Vanessa’s necklace, as she had done before school dances years earlier.
Vanessa watched their reflections.
“What happens after tonight?”
“You tell the truth.”
“I meant between us.”
Evelyn’s hands paused.
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa accepted the answer.
“Will you visit me?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I’m convicted?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because accountability is not abandonment.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I don’t deserve that.”
“Deserving is not the same as receiving.”
A knock sounded.
Naomi entered.
“It’s time.”
They rode the elevator in silence.
Before the doors opened, Vanessa reached for Evelyn’s hand.
She held it only briefly.
Then the ballroom appeared before them.
Three hundred guests turned.
Roland Pike stood beneath the chandeliers, smiling as if the night already belonged to him.
The orchestra began playing.
May you like
Moon River.
Anna’s trigger had begun.
