Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER BEHIND THE GLASS
Nell stopped so suddenly that Piper collided with her.
The man behind the glass still looked exactly like Evan.
Same dark hair.
Same narrow scar above his right eyebrow.
Same faded green jacket he had worn the night he disappeared.
But the smile was wrong.
Evan smiled with one side of his mouth when he was nervous.
This man smiled evenly.
Deliberately.
“Nell,” he said through the chamber speaker. “You found me.”
She stared at him.
“What did Dad give you before he died?”
The smile vanished.
“What?”
“Our father gave us each something. What did he give you?”
“A compass.”
Nell touched the compass beneath her shirt.
“He gave me the compass.”
The man hesitated.
“He gave me his watch.”
“What was engraved on it?”
Another pause.
Mr. Hale stepped closer to the glass.
“That is not Evan.”
The man’s face changed.
His shoulders relaxed.
His voice became colder.
“You were always difficult, Nell.”
Piper looked horrified.
“Is he wearing a mask?”
Adrian studied the chamber.
“Possibly a projection overlay.”
The lights around the man’s face shifted.
For an instant, the features blurred.
A camera above the chamber aligned digital images over the prisoner’s real appearance, creating a convincing copy.
Nell felt fury replace hope.
“Where is my brother?”
The false Evan leaned toward the glass.
“Closer than you think.”
Mr. Hale lifted the blue box.
“Marcus asked us to bring this into the archive chamber. Is that the chamber?”
Adrian examined the floor.
“No. This is an interrogation cell.”
A hiss came from the ventilation system.
Piper coughed.
“Gas.”
Adrian pulled his jacket over his mouth.
“Back to the observation room.”
The partition behind them dropped.
They were sealed in the passage.
The false Evan watched calmly as white vapor spread from the vents.
Nell searched the walls for controls.
Piper grabbed a metal stool and struck the glass.
It did not crack.
“Stop wasting oxygen,” Mr. Hale said.
“What do you suggest?”
“The chamber must have an emergency release.”
Adrian ran his hands along the wall.
“Systems like this were designed with manual overrides.”
The blue box beeped.
Its screen displayed:
ATMOSPHERIC THREAT DETECTED.
EMERGENCY PROTOCOL AVAILABLE.
PLACE INDEX KEY AGAINST PRIMARY TERMINAL.
“Index key?” Nell asked.
Adrian looked at the compass.
“The key may not be the box.”
Nell removed the compass.
The man behind the glass moved for the first time with genuine urgency.
“Do not use that.”
She held it against the nearest wall panel.
Nothing happened.
Piper noticed the symbol engraved beneath the chamber speaker.
“There.”
Nell pressed the compass into the circular marking.
The needle spun rapidly.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a red lever.
She pulled it.
The vents reversed.
The gas was sucked from the passage.
The glass chamber unlocked.
The false Evan tried to retreat, but Piper entered first and struck him with the same metal stool.
He collapsed.
Nell knelt and pulled at the edge of his face.
A thin projection mesh covered his skin. Beneath it was a man in his late twenties whom she did not recognize.
Mr. Hale searched his pockets.
He found a security card marked LEVEL B3 and a photograph.
The photograph showed Nell and Evan as children standing with their father.
On the back, someone had written:
SUBJECTS 41A AND 41B.
Nell’s blood went cold.
“We were part of the program.”
Adrian took the photograph.
“Your father worked at Westbridge.”
“He was an accountant.”
“He told your family he was an accountant.”
“You knew him?”
“Michael Carter helped design the archive index.”
Nell stepped away.
Her father died in a car accident six years earlier.
At least, that was what she had always believed.
“What does 41A mean?”
Adrian looked at her.
“You and Evan were not observed because you attended Westbridge.”
“Then why?”
“Your father enrolled you in the program before either of you entered school.”
Nell grabbed his arm.
“My father would never do that.”
“I did not say he volunteered.”
The unconscious man’s phone began ringing.
Mr. Hale answered on speaker.
Marcus Vale’s voice said, “Piper, your next decision determines whether you still have a family.”
Piper looked at the phone.
“You are not my family.”
“That sounds dramatic, but you do not yet understand the alternatives.”
“You replaced my mother.”
“I saved you from her.”
“Where is she?”
Marcus ignored the question.
“Take Nell’s compass and bring it to Level B3. Adrian knows the way.”
Piper looked at Nell.
“What happens if I refuse?”
“The police will find evidence that you assaulted Nell, fabricated videos, stole examination records and caused the current lockdown.”
“I did assault her.”
“But the rest will send you to prison.”
“You would do that to me?”
“I have spent years teaching you that consequences belong to weaker people. Do not choose to become one of them.”
The call ended.
For several seconds, Piper stood motionless.
Then she picked up the security card.
Nell watched her carefully.
“Are you going to take the compass?”
Piper looked at the bruise forming on Nell’s cheek.
“I don’t know.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Piper placed the card in Nell’s hand.
“My father expects me to betray you.”
“He knows you.”
“He knows the person he trained me to be.”
“And who are you now?”
Piper glanced at the unconscious man wearing the projection mesh.
“I haven’t decided.”
A loud click echoed from the observation room.
The sealed door opened.
A woman entered.
She had Piper’s eyes, but her hair was gray and cut unevenly. Scars crossed one side of her face.
Adrian whispered, “Elena.”
Piper stared at the woman.
The woman looked at Piper with tears in her eyes.
“My daughter.”
Piper did not move toward her.
May you like
Instead, she raised the metal stool.
“Prove it.”
