Chapter 13 - Vivian’s Last Lesson
“Move away from the child,” Evelyn said.
Margaret smiled sadly.
“You still speak as though you are in control.”
“Her name is Sophie.”
“I named you once too.”
“You stole me.”
“I saved you.”
“You let my mother die.”
“Beatrice would have destroyed everything.”
“She tried to expose you.”
“She tried to take my work and give it to men who would use it without restraint.”
“So you used it first.”
Margaret’s hand remained steady.
Behind the glass, Daniel pressed his palm against the barrier.
“Mother,” he repeated.
Evelyn looked at him.
“What did you do to him?”
“I returned him to his original state.”
“He thinks you are his mother.”
“I am.”
“Not biologically.”
“Biology is the smallest form of motherhood.”
Sophie began trembling.
Evelyn kept her voice calm.
“Let Sophie come to me.”
“First, you will transfer control of the archive.”
“I won’t.”
“Then Daniel will remain empty, and Sophie will take his place.”
“What does that mean?”
Margaret lifted the control device.
“The archive requires a permanent operator. A mind conditioned to hold its access patterns.”
“You planned to use Sophie.”
“She is young enough to adapt.”
Evelyn took one step forward.
Margaret aimed the gun at Sophie’s forehead wound.
“Stop.”
Evelyn stopped.
The wound existed because Preston had accused Sophie.
The accusation had begun this nightmare.
But the plan had started long before the wedding.
Margaret had read Sophie the stories.
Repeated the songs.
Prepared her as an operator.
“You never loved her,” Evelyn said.
Margaret’s expression flickered.
“I loved her enough to make her important.”
“That is not love.”
“It is the only kind that lasts.”
A shadow moved behind Margaret.
Adrian stepped silently from between the shelves.
His false Daniel face hung partially torn from one side.
Evelyn did not look directly at him.
Margaret sensed movement and turned.
Adrian struck her gun hand.
The shot fired into the ceiling.
Sophie ran to Evelyn.
Adrian and Margaret fought for the control device.
He slammed her against the glass chamber.
Margaret drove her knee into his chest.
Caroline and Ortiz arrived with Marcus.
Ortiz aimed at Adrian.
“Step away.”
Neither listened.
Margaret pressed a hidden switch.
The glass door behind Daniel opened.
Daniel stepped out.
Margaret pointed toward Adrian.
“Stop him.”
Daniel attacked without hesitation.
He moved with mechanical precision, striking Adrian in the throat and ribs.
Adrian tried to defend himself.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
Daniel showed no recognition.
Evelyn handed Sophie to Caroline.
“Take her out.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Please.”
Caroline pulled Sophie toward the archive entrance.
Evelyn approached Daniel.
“Daniel.”
He continued fighting.
She began humming the song she sang to Sophie every night.
Not Margaret’s moon song.
A simple melody Daniel had composed when Sophie was born.
Daniel froze.
Adrian struck him.
Daniel fell to one knee.
Evelyn continued singing.
Sophie heard from the corridor and joined her.
Daniel lifted his head.
His eyes moved toward Sophie.
A memory appeared.
Evelyn saw it happen.
“Sophie,” he whispered.
Margaret shouted, “D-1, ignore the trigger.”
Daniel pressed his hands against his head.
Evelyn reached him.
“Come back to us.”
He looked at her.
“Evelyn?”
Margaret raised the control device.
A high-frequency sound filled the chamber.
Daniel screamed and collapsed.
Several awakened subjects fell with him.
The sound activated their conditioning.
Adrian covered his ears.
Margaret moved toward the console.
Marcus threw a metal evidence case at the control device.
It shattered against the floor.
The sound stopped.
Ortiz arrested Margaret.
This time, she secured both wrists and attached the restraint to a steel railing.
Adrian ran toward the lower level.
Evelyn followed.
He reached the central core, a cylindrical chamber filled with servers.
“You can still save Daniel,” he said.
“How?”
“Transfer the restoration sequence to an external drive.”
“And give you control?”
“I don’t need control anymore.”
“You kidnapped Sophie.”
“To get here.”
“You wore my husband’s face.”
“To survive.”
“You are no better than Vivian.”
Adrian pulled away the remaining disguise.
For the first time, Evelyn saw Zero’s real face.
A scar crossed his mouth.
His gray eyes looked exhausted.
“I spent twenty-five years trying to destroy her. Every time I came close, another government bought her research.”
“That does not excuse what you did.”
“No.”
He looked toward the core.
“But it explains what comes next.”
He entered a command.
The servers began overheating.
“You are destroying everything.”
“I am destroying this location.”
“What about the files Marcus transferred?”
“Forty-three percent was enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“To wake the others.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“What others?”
“Saint Ormond was only the first facility.”
A map appeared on the central screen.
Dozens of locations lit up around the world.
“They will know E-2 has returned,” Adrian said.
“I am not their leader.”
“They won’t care.”
The chamber began to shake.
Adrian handed her a small drive.
“Daniel’s restoration sequence.”
“Why give it to me?”
“Because he is the only person who remembers who financed the second phase.”
“Who?”
Adrian smiled without humor.
“Ask Julian.”
He opened an emergency door leading to the lake tunnel.
Evelyn tried to stop him.
He disappeared into the darkness.
The servers exploded.
Evelyn escaped as the core collapsed behind her.
Outside, dawn broke over Lake Marrow.
Federal officers loaded Margaret into an armored vehicle.
Daniel was carried out on a stretcher.
Sophie held his hand.
His eyes opened briefly.
“Home,” he whispered.
Evelyn touched his face.
“Yes.”
For the first time since the wedding, she believed they might survive.
Then Detective Ortiz received a call.
Her expression changed.
“The forty-three percent of copied files has appeared online.”
Evelyn looked toward Marcus.
“Can it be removed?”
“No.”
Ortiz lowered the phone.
“There’s something else. A list was included.”
“What list?”
“Names of Ormond subjects still active inside governments, hospitals, banks, and law enforcement.”
“Are the names verified?”
“Not all of them.”
“Then innocent people may be targeted.”
May you like
Ortiz nodded.
“And your name is at the top.”
