Chapter 13 - The Woman Behind Vale
Emily could not speak.
The woman on the monitor resembled the photograph from the greenhouse nursery, but age had sharpened her features. A thin scar crossed her right cheek. Her dark hair had turned silver at the temples.
“My name is Dr. Amelia Vale,” she said. “The program renamed me Emily during the early trials.”
Emily gripped the restraints.
“Where are you?”
“Close enough to end this.”
Voss raised the gun toward the camera as if she could shoot through it.
“You have no authority here.”
Amelia smiled without warmth.
“I created the authority.”
The computer rejected every command Voss entered.
Hospital device failures stopped.
Green indicators appeared across the network.
Patients were safe.
Police officers advanced.
Voss dragged Sarah backward and pointed the weapon toward her head.
“Release the archive to me.”
“No,” Amelia answered.
“I will kill her.”
“You have killed people for less.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Emily looked at the woman who raised her.
“Mom.”
Sarah opened her eyes again.
Whatever lies existed between them, the word still belonged to her.
Voss’s grip tightened.
Amelia’s expression did not change.
“Sarah knew the risk when she returned.”
Emily felt rage.
“You talk about her as if she is disposable.”
“I talk about her as someone who spent thirty years helping hide you.”
Sarah shook her head.
“I tried to protect her.”
“You obeyed Vale until Thomas threatened to expose the placements,” Amelia replied.
Emily felt another piece of her childhood break.
“What happened to Dad?”
Sarah’s face crumpled.
“The fire was meant to destroy records.”
“Did he die?”
“Yes.”
“Did you leave him?”
“I was ordered to remove you, but you were already at college. Thomas stayed inside to save the files.”
Emily’s throat closed.
Her father died because of Helix.
Sarah allowed Emily to believe both parents were gone so she could disappear.
“Why come back now?”
“Because Voss found Grace.”
Grace clung to Emily’s side.
Amelia continued.
“Sarah placed the device beneath your bandage to awaken your early memories. The anticoagulant was not part of her design.”
“Who added it?”
“David.”
Daniel looked toward the screen.
“Why?”
“Because David believed killing Emily would prevent the archive from opening.”
Grace shook her head.
“Daddy would not hurt her.”
Voss laughed.
“David never cared about Emily. He cares about the child.”
Grace moved closer to Daniel.
Emily thought of the hospital photograph. The man wearing Daniel’s face. The wedding ring on the wrong hand.
David had entered her room.
“Where is he now?” Reyes asked.
Amelia looked away from the camera.
“He is entering the building.”
A warning flashed on the security screen.
Unidentified access on the fourteenth floor.
The lights went out.
A gunshot exploded in the darkness.
Sarah screamed.
Emergency lighting activated.
Voss lay on the floor, blood spreading across her leg.
The gun had been shot from the doorway.
David stood there.
He looked almost exactly like Daniel, but now Emily noticed differences.
David’s posture was more rigid.
His eyes held none of Daniel’s warmth.
A black D-1 tattoo remained visible beneath his wrist, though Rebecca’s journal identified David as D-2.
The tattoo was another false identity.
Grace ran toward him.
“Daddy.”
David caught her and lifted her into his arms.
For a moment, his face softened.
Then he pointed the gun at Daniel.
“You should have stayed with Linda.”
Daniel remained restrained.
“You placed the device under Emily’s bandage.”
“I tried to stop the archive from opening.”
“You nearly killed her.”
“I lowered the dose.”
“Linda’s attack ruptured the reservoir,” Sarah said weakly. “That released everything.”
David looked at Emily.
“I knew Linda would confront you, but I did not know she would strike the incision.”
“You used me as bait,” Emily said.
“I protected Grace.”
“By risking her mother’s life?”
“You are genetic material. You are not her mother.”
Grace buried her face against his shoulder.
Emily forced herself to remain calm.
“You raised her. She loves you. That does not give you the right to decide who else she can love.”
David’s eyes changed slightly.
Voss reached toward the gun beside her.
Natalie kicked it away.
Reyes freed Natalie while another officer released Emily and Daniel.
Amelia remained on the screen.
“David,” she said. “Bring Grace to me.”
David looked toward the monitor.
“No.”
“You were created to protect the Vale heirs.”
“I was created to be discarded.”
“You were given purpose.”
“I was locked in white rooms and punished whenever I used my own name.”
Grace touched his face.
“Daddy, don’t be angry.”
David lowered the gun slightly.
Daniel stepped forward.
“We can protect her together.”
David laughed.
“You had everything.”
“I had a fabricated life.”
“You had a home.”
“Built by the same people who imprisoned you.”
“You had Emily.”
Daniel glanced at her.
“That was not given to me. We chose each other.”
David’s expression hardened.
“You were conditioned.”
“The conditioning failed.”
David looked at the research note still visible on the monitor.
Attachment formed without reinforcement.
His hand began to tremble.
Voss suddenly grabbed a surgical tool from the floor and drove it into Sarah’s side.
Chaos erupted.
Daniel moved toward Sarah.
David fired.
The bullet struck the computer console.
Sparks showered across the room.
The archive began deleting itself.
Amelia shouted through the monitor.
“Stop the purge!”
Voss crawled toward the control panel.
Natalie pulled Sarah away.
Grace screamed.
Emily saw a countdown appear.
ARCHIVE DESTRUCTION IN 60 SECONDS.
Amelia’s voice became urgent.
“Emily, you must transfer primary authority before the files disappear.”
“How?”
“Use your implant.”
The metallic cuff had been removed when the restraints opened.
Emily pressed her wrist to the scanner.
The system requested a destination.
Vale Consortium.
Mercer Medical.
Private vault.
Police evidence network.
“Send it to the police,” Reyes said.
“No,” Amelia warned. “Your government cannot protect the children.”
“And you can?” Emily demanded.
“I have kept you alive.”
“You watched my life.”
“I prepared you.”
“You do not own me.”
The countdown reached twenty seconds.
David raised his gun again.
Voss lunged toward Emily.
Daniel intercepted her.
They crashed against the console.
Grace slipped from David’s arms and ran toward Emily.
The child placed her small hand over Emily’s implant.
The scanner recognized both of them.
MATERNAL LINE CONFIRMED.
A fifth destination appeared.
GRACE TRUST.
Emily selected it.
The archive vanished from every screen.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Voss screamed.
David looked at Grace.
“What did you do?”
May you like
Grace stared up at Emily.
“I gave it to us.”
