Chapter 9 - THE THREE VERSIONS OF TRUTH
Michael crossed the room and grabbed Evan by the collar.
“What did you activate?”
Evan shoved him away.
“The only system you were too afraid to use.”
“You have no idea what you released.”
“I spent eight months inside the archive. I know exactly what it contains.”
“The index is corrupted.”
“I repaired it.”
“You cannot repair thirty years of manipulated records.”
“I separated the original files from the altered copies.”
Michael stared at him.
“How?”
“With the source signatures you embedded before you disappeared.”
Nell looked between them.
“You knew Dad was alive?”
Evan’s anger faltered.
“I discovered it after I reached the lower archive.”
“And you did not tell me?”
“I tried.”
“No, you sent riddles through lockers and projectors.”
“Every direct message was intercepted.”
“You could have come home.”
“If I left, Marcus would have moved the archive.”
“Our mother thought you abandoned her.”
Evan looked away.
“I know.”
Nell heard her father’s words in Evan’s voice.
The same apology.
The same excuse.
Both had decided that protecting the family gave them permission to destroy it.
Piper stood near the study window, watching the grounds.
“What happens in fifty-eight minutes?”
Evan spread three memory drives across the desk.
“There are three possible releases.”
He pointed to the first.
“Marcus’s version. It replaces criminals’ names with selected targets. Students, teachers, journalists and political opponents would be framed.”
The second.
“Elena’s version. It releases the entire archive publicly.”
The third.
“My version. It sends verified criminal evidence to several independent investigators and seals unrelated private records permanently.”
Michael examined the third drive.
“You cannot verify it without the complete index.”
“I have the index.”
“The blue box?”
“No.”
Evan looked at Nell’s compass.
“The compass.”
Nell touched it.
“You told me the box was the warning.”
“It is. The timer forces every side to act before the archive automatically chooses the last version uploaded.”
“Which version is currently selected?” Piper asked.
Evan’s silence answered.
Michael swore.
“Marcus’s.”
Nell looked at the timer.
“How do we replace it?”
“We reach the B3 chamber, connect the watch and compass, then upload my drive.”
“Marcus wants us to go there.”
“Yes.”
“Elena does too.”
“Yes.”
“And you started the timer anyway?”
“It was the only way to bring every person controlling the program into one place.”
Piper laughed bitterly.
“So we are bait.”
“All of us are.”
Nell stared at her brother.
“You sound like Dad.”
“That is not a compliment,” Michael said.
Evan picked up the third drive.
“We have less than an hour.”
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Everyone fell silent.
Michael drew a compact weapon from beneath his jacket.
Nell stared at it.
“You came armed?”
“I have survived six years by assuming every door hides someone who wants me dead.”
The study handle turned.
Piper moved beside the wall.
The door opened slowly.
Celia Vale entered with Officer Grant behind her.
Grant’s uniform was torn. Blood stained one sleeve.
Piper faced the woman who had raised her.
“Where is my father?”
Celia looked relieved to see her.
“Piper, come with me.”
“You are not my mother.”
“I never wanted you to learn this way.”
“You stole another woman’s life.”
Celia’s face tightened.
“Elena abandoned you.”
“She was imprisoned.”
“That is what she claims.”
“Is it false?”
Celia did not answer.
Piper’s voice broke.
“Did you know where she was?”
“At first, no.”
“And later?”
Celia looked down.
Piper recoiled as though struck.
“You knew.”
“I was protecting you.”
“Everyone says that before admitting they ruined someone’s life.”
Celia glanced toward Evan.
“The timer must be stopped.”
“We are changing the selected release,” Evan said.
“No. You need to shut the archive down.”
Michael raised the weapon.
“That is what I intend.”
Evan stepped in front of the drives.
“You will destroy the evidence.”
“Better than destroying innocent people.”
“My version protects them.”
“You are twenty years old. You cannot anticipate every consequence.”
“And you could?”
The two faced each other across the desk.
Nell suddenly understood the true danger.
The program had survived because everyone believed only they could control the truth.
Marcus altered it.
Elena wanted to expose all of it.
Michael wanted to erase it.
Evan wanted to filter it.
Each believed the others were too dangerous to decide.
The radio on Officer Grant’s shoulder activated.
Marcus’s voice filled the study.
“Thank you, Celia.”
Celia’s eyes widened.
A red light blinked beneath Grant’s damaged sleeve.
Tracker.
The windows exploded inward.
Smoke grenades rolled across the floor.
Michael fired toward the doorway.
Nell grabbed the three drives.
Someone seized her from behind.
A cloth pressed over her mouth.
The room tilted.
Through the smoke, she saw Piper strike one guard with the metal stool.
Evan reached for her.
Celia screamed.
Then Nell lost consciousness.
When she awoke, she was seated inside a moving vehicle with her wrists bound.
Marcus Vale sat opposite her.
He wore an immaculate dark suit and a calm expression.
On the seat beside him lay the blue box.
The timer showed thirty-four minutes.
Marcus smiled.
“Your brother made one mistake.”
Nell pulled against the restraints.
“What?”
“He assumed you were the key.”
Marcus opened his hand.
May you like
Piper’s blood-covered silver necklace rested in his palm.
“The real key has been my daughter all along.”
