Chapter 10 - THE DAUGHTER MARCUS DESIGNED
Nell stared at the necklace.
A small silver pendant hung from it, shaped like a crescent moon.
Piper’s birthmark.
The symbol Elena had described.
“Where is Piper?”
Marcus placed the necklace beside the blue box.
“She is alive.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the only answer you need.”
The vehicle moved through a descending tunnel.
There were no windows in the rear compartment. Two guards sat near the doors.
Marcus looked at Nell as though they were discussing school grades rather than kidnapping.
“You remind me of your father.”
“I hope that frightens you.”
“It disappoints me.”
“He helped build your program.”
“He built the part that made it useful.”
“What did he do?”
“Michael created predictive profiles. He believed the system could identify students at risk of violence, addiction or academic collapse. A noble purpose.”
“You used it to blackmail families.”
“I expanded its usefulness.”
“You destroyed lives.”
“I prevented instability.”
Nell almost laughed.
“Piper threw a chair at me today.”
“And now she may help us protect thousands of people.”
“You trained her to hurt others.”
“I trained her to survive attention.”
“You turned her into a weapon.”
Marcus’s expression sharpened.
“Piper was born into a world that would have consumed her. Fame does not protect children. Wealth does not protect them. Both create larger cages.”
“So you let strangers condition her?”
“I supervised every stage.”
Nell felt sick.
“You say that like it makes it better.”
“It made her strong.”
“She is terrified of you.”
“Fear and love are not opposites.”
“To people like you, maybe.”
The vehicle stopped.
The doors opened onto a brightly lit underground loading bay.
The Level B3 symbol was painted across the wall.
Marcus’s guards led Nell through several security doors.
The final chamber was enormous.
Glass data columns rose from floor to ceiling. Thousands of lights moved inside them like stars. A circular console stood at the center.
Piper sat in a chair beside it.
Her wrists were bound, but she appeared conscious.
A bruise darkened her jaw.
She looked at Nell.
“Did he give you the speech about protecting people?”
“He mentioned cages.”
“He likes that one.”
Marcus placed the blue box on the console.
The timer read 27:16.
A woman stepped from behind one of the data columns.
Elena.
Piper stared at her.
“You brought us here.”
Elena looked at Marcus.
“I brought the compass.”
Adrian entered behind her, holding Nell’s brass compass.
Nell’s heart sank.
“You betrayed us.”
Adrian did not meet her eyes.
Marcus extended his hand.
“The compass.”
Elena held it instead.
“Release Piper.”
“You are in no position to negotiate.”
“I am the only person who knows the secondary authentication phrase.”
Marcus smiled.
“You still think I need you.”
“You kept me alive for seventeen years.”
“For sentimental reasons.”
“You do not have sentimental reasons.”
“True.”
Marcus nodded toward a guard.
The guard pushed a second prisoner into the chamber.
Celia.
Her hands were tied. Blood stained her forehead.
Piper looked between the two women.
Her biological mother stood beside Marcus voluntarily.
The woman who raised her stood as his prisoner.
Nothing made sense.
Marcus approached Piper.
“The archive was designed around family authentication. Michael divided his key between Nell and Evan. Elena and I created another pair.”
Piper looked at the crescent pendant.
“Me.”
“You.”
“And who is the other half?”
Marcus glanced toward Celia.
Elena answered.
“Your sister.”
Piper went still.
“I do not have a sister.”
Celia began crying.
“Yes, you do.”
Piper stared at her.
“Who?”
Celia’s eyes shifted toward Nell.
Nell felt the room narrow.
“No,” she whispered.
Marcus appeared amused.
“Not Nell.”
He activated a screen above the console.
A photograph appeared.
It showed two infant girls wrapped in identical blankets.
One was Piper.
The other had a tiny bracelet marked SUBJECT 42B.
Marcus enlarged the second image.
Nell recognized the face, though she had only seen it in school photographs.
The second girl was Leah Rowan.
Vice Principal Daniel Rowan’s daughter.
Leah had died twelve years ago in a house fire.
Piper shook her head.
“That is impossible.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“Leah was my niece.”
Elena turned toward him.
“She was your daughter.”
The chamber became silent.
Adrian looked at Piper.
“Daniel was not my brother.”
Piper whispered, “You are Daniel.”
He removed the silver ring.
“My real name is Daniel Rowan. Adrian Cross died beneath the school seventeen years ago.”
Nell struggled to follow.
“Then why did the old identification card show another man?”
“Because Marcus replaced my identity before the program began. The man in the photograph was the original Daniel Rowan. I was assigned his records.”
Marcus smiled.
“Names are administrative tools.”
Piper looked at Elena.
“Was Leah my sister?”
“Your twin.”
“Why did Celia raise me?”
Elena’s voice broke.
“Because Marcus believed separating twins would produce useful behavioral differences. One child raised in privilege. One raised under controlled instability.”
Piper stared at Adrian.
“You raised Leah?”
“For five years.”
“And then she died?”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“The fire was staged.”
Piper’s breath caught.
“Is she alive?”
Marcus checked the timer.
22:03.
“Bring in the final key.”
A side door opened.
A young woman entered wearing a white medical uniform.
Her face was partially hidden by a mask.
She removed it.
Piper stood so quickly the chair fell behind her.
The woman looked almost exactly like her.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Same crescent-shaped mark beneath the left shoulder.
May you like
Leah smiled.
“Hello, sister.”
