Chapter 10 - The Garden Chooses
Michael struggled against the restraints.
“Sophie, listen to me.”
The child stared at him.
“You made Mom forget.”
“I helped her survive.”
“You put the dark things inside me.”
Michael looked toward Vivian.
“She did.”
Vivian’s face remained calm, but her hands trembled.
Sophie turned toward her.
“Grandma?”
Vivian stepped closer to the table.
“You are confused, darling.”
“You told me the medicine would keep Mom home.”
“It did.”
“You said Grandpa Thomas was dangerous.”
“He is.”
Sophie looked through the glass at Thomas.
“He came when I was scared.”
Thomas’s eyes filled with tears.
Vivian touched the control panel again.
Nothing happened.
“Sophie, release the locks.”
“No.”
The laboratory computers began opening files without commands.
Names, dates, recordings, and medical logs filled every screen.
Ross stared.
“She’s accessing the archive.”
Thomas moved toward the glass partition.
“The implants are translating her neurological responses into system commands.”
“How?” Daniel asked.
“The Garden was built to respond to conditioned patterns. Sophie’s capsules are acting as a living key.”
Daniel looked at Dr. Ortiz.
“Remove them.”
“If we disrupt the network suddenly, we could cause a neurological cascade.”
“Then disconnect her safely.”
“I need access.”
Daniel searched the partition.
A manual emergency release stood behind a sealed panel.
He broke the glass with a fire extinguisher and pulled the lever.
The partition door opened six inches before stopping.
Adrian moved from the other side and tried to force it closed.
Daniel pushed against him.
For years Adrian had been the obedient son, the polished banker, the man who smiled at family photographs while quietly carrying out Vivian’s instructions.
Now his face twisted with panic.
“You don’t know what’s in here,” Adrian said.
“I know enough.”
“If this archive becomes public, every Mercer company collapses.”
“You helped abduct Clara and Sophie to protect stock prices?”
“I protected thousands of employees.”
“You protected yourself.”
Daniel drove his shoulder into the door.
Adrian lost his footing.
Ross and another officer forced the opening wider.
Daniel entered.
Adrian swung at him.
Daniel ducked, struck his brother in the stomach, and slammed him against the console.
Adrian grabbed a surgical instrument.
Before he could use it, Mary stepped through the opening and hit him across the wrist with her handbag.
The instrument fell.
Adrian stared at her.
Mary raised the bag again.
“You left my granddaughter outside beside the garbage.”
An officer restrained Adrian.
For the first time that night, Mary smiled.
It was not a gentle smile.
Dr. Ortiz reached Sophie.
The child’s pulse was dangerously fast.
“Her temperature is rising.”
Thomas examined the implant readings.
“The network is drawing too much power through the capsules.”
“Can we shut it down?”
“Not from this console.”
Sophie looked at Daniel.
“Dad, my neck hurts.”
He held her hand.
“We’re getting you out.”
Clara stood nearby, still dazed.
Daniel called her name.
She turned slowly.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Leo?”
“Safe.”
Her knees buckled.
Daniel caught her with one arm while holding Sophie with the other.
Clara touched the bandage beneath Sophie’s jaw.
“What did I do?”
“You didn’t do this.”
“I took her to the farm.”
“You were controlled.”
“I held her while they put the capsules in.”
Daniel felt her begin to shake.
“You were not yourself.”
“But I remember.”
Vivian approached.
“Memory is not the same as guilt.”
Clara looked at her.
“Did you kill Richard?”
The question silenced the room.
Vivian’s face changed.
Michael laughed from the wall.
“She remembers more than you expected.”
Clara stepped toward Vivian.
“I saw you at the lake.”
Daniel stared at his wife.
“You were there when my father died?”
“I was four,” Clara whispered.
“That’s impossible. He died when I was twelve. You would have been twenty-three.”
Clara pressed both hands to her head.
“No. I saw it through the room.”
Thomas understood first.
“They showed her recordings as part of conditioning.”
Clara looked toward the monitors.
The Garden searched its archive.
A video opened.
Nighttime footage showed Richard Mercer standing on a dock beside Vivian.
They argued.
Richard held the silver access key.
Vivian reached for it.
He stepped back.
Adrian appeared behind him.
Younger by decades, but unmistakable.
Adrian shoved his father.
Richard fell into the water.
Daniel stopped breathing.
On the recording, Richard surfaced once.
Vivian watched.
She did not help him.
Adrian picked up the key.
The video ended.
Daniel turned toward his brother.
Adrian had gone pale.
“You killed him.”
“I was sixteen.”
“You pushed him into the lake.”
“Mother said he was going to destroy us.”
Vivian’s voice remained cold.
“He made his choice.”
Daniel moved toward Adrian, but Ross blocked him.
“Let the evidence handle him.”
A warning alarm sounded.
SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION: 92 PERCENT.
Thomas looked at the screen.
“When it reaches one hundred, every active implant connected to Orison may awaken.”
“How long?” Ross asked.
“Minutes.”
Dr. Ortiz prepared surgical tools.
“I can remove the capsules, but not before synchronization completes.”
Sophie squeezed Daniel’s hand.
“I can stop it.”
Everyone looked at her.
“How?” Daniel asked.
“The Garden asked me a question.”
“What question?”
May you like
Sophie looked toward a dark corridor beyond the laboratory.
“It asked which family should survive.”
