Chapter 13 - The Founder Behind the Glass
Malcolm Voss stepped into view above the Family Theater.
Age had narrowed him but not diminished his presence. He wore a dark suit and leaned on a polished metal cane. A thin scar crossed one cheek. Beside him stood two armed guards and a woman in surgical attire Noah did not recognize.
Sarah struck the glass with both hands. "Do not listen to him."
The room was designed like an amphitheater. Noah and Daniel stood on a lower platform. Sarah's glass chamber faced them. Two doors waited on opposite walls, each marked with a name.
NOAH.
NATHAN.
Voss smiled down.
"Your guardians failed in different ways," he said. "Richard allowed sentiment to interfere with retrieval. The Cross placement allowed Nathan to build attachments. But both of you survived, which validates the resilience model."
Daniel stared at him. "You stole my life."
"I gave you several."
"You gave me lies."
"Most identities are lies agreed upon by families and governments. Mine were simply better documented."
Noah searched the walls for cameras and vents. The transmitter beneath his shirt vibrated once, indicating Lena's team was within range.
Voss noticed the slight movement.
"Federal agents are in the eastern tunnel," he said. "They will find it flooded. Your transmitter has been broadcasting to an empty receiver for seven minutes."
The guards forced Sarah from the glass chamber and brought her to the center platform. One held a gun at her back.
Voss explained the test. Behind the door marked Noah was a server containing the full Continuity registry, enough evidence to free hundreds of victims and convict dozens of participants. Behind the door marked Nathan was the control system for Sarah's chamber and the building's sealed exits.
Only one door could be opened before the other was permanently destroyed.
"Choose truth or mother," Voss said. "Public justice or private love. This is the oldest conflict in medicine. One life against many."
Noah looked at Sarah.
She shook her head. "Open the registry."
Daniel moved closer to him. "There is another option."
Voss laughed. "There is always someone who says that before discovering there is not."
Noah studied the platform. The wiring beneath the doors converged beneath Voss's balcony. The woman in surgical attire watched a tablet, likely controlling the locks. The guard nearest Sarah stood with his weight on his right leg. Daniel noticed the same details. Twins did not need shared memories to share attention.
"You want to know which son was worth saving," Noah called upward. "The answer is neither."
Voss's smile faded.
"Children are not investments," Noah continued. "No one has to earn rescue."
Daniel suddenly dropped, sweeping the nearest guard's legs. Noah drove his shoulder into the second guard as Sarah seized the fallen metal cane. A shot struck the ceiling. The surgical woman reached for the tablet, but a figure emerged behind her.
Pike.
He wore a hospital gown beneath a stolen coat, his shoulder bandaged, an IV line taped to his arm. Somehow he had escaped custody and reached the island before them.
He took the tablet.
Voss stared at him. "Samuel."
Pike flinched at the name, then looked down at Noah.
"Which door?"
"Both."
"The system will not allow it."
"Then stop obeying the system."
Voss raised a small remote. "You owe me your life."
Pike looked at the man he had worshiped. "That debt was invented by the person who harmed me."
He smashed the tablet against the railing.
The theater lights failed. Emergency locks released with heavy clicks. Lena's team burst through a service door seconds later, having discovered an unflooded ventilation route from Daniel's remembered drawings.
Voss fled toward the Noah door. Noah followed.
Beyond it lay the server room, but Voss did not stop. He opened a hidden lift and descended toward the island's dock. Noah entered before the doors closed.
They faced each other inside the narrow car.
"You could have been extraordinary," Voss said.
"I am. You just do not get the credit."
Voss attacked with the metal cane, striking Noah's injured hand. Noah caught the second blow and forced him against the wall. The lift shuddered to a stop halfway down.
Voss reached inside his jacket and produced a syringe.
"Your mother chose your brother," he said. "That is why she lost you both."
Noah froze for half a second.
It was enough for Voss to drive the needle forward.
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The lift doors were forced apart from outside. Richard Cole stood in the gap, pale in a hospital transport uniform, one hand gripping the emergency lever.
He took the needle in his own chest.
