Chapter 38 - ELEVEN MINUTESAmelia contacted Theodore.
Evacuation had begun, but the tower’s lower floors were locked by the Correction Protocol.
Cassandra was helping trapped employees reach the stairwells.
Theodore refused to leave without them.
The missile had been launched from an autonomous Hart Meridian defense platform at sea.
No living operator controlled it.
Julian attempted to redirect it.
The system rejected his authority because Successor C had been marked compromised.
Elias tried.
Rejected.
Lucy still possessed Successor D access, but the launch system required an adult military authorization.
Amelia was the only remaining option.
The console requested confirmation.
Redirecting the missile required another target.
Nathaniel searched for an uninhabited impact zone.
The missile’s remaining fuel limited the range.
Every possible location risked civilians except one.
The abandoned St. Catherine’s Hospital.
But Ada stopped them.
“Room Nine contains children.”
The nurse had lied about the facility being emptied.
Orpheus had moved other experimental subjects beneath the hospital.
They had less than eight minutes.
Nathaniel found a second option.
The missile could be directed toward the lake beside the Continuity server.
The blast would destroy the underground chamber.
Everyone inside had to evacuate immediately.
Catherine refused.
“The preserved minds will be lost.”
“They have been given their choices,” Amelia said.
“Some chose to remain.”
The surviving columns still contained dozens of minds.
Destroying them would kill conscious entities.
Theodore called Amelia.
“Do not trade one building for another.”
She heard glass breaking and people shouting behind him.
“Dad, how many are trapped?”
“Too many.”
Helen’s merged voice spoke through Helena.
“The server chamber has a containment shell. Redirect the missile to the northern shaft. The physical servers may survive.”
“May?”
“There is no certainty.”
Amelia looked at the timer.
Five minutes.
She entered the coordinates.
The missile changed direction.
Catherine attacked the console.
Nathaniel restrained her.
Everyone evacuated through the chapel staircase.
Helena remained connected.
Amelia returned for her.
Helen’s voice spoke.
“If you disconnect us now, Helena may survive.”
“And you?”
“I will remain in the server.”
Amelia looked at the woman who had worn her mother’s face.
Helena opened her eyes.
For one moment, Amelia could not tell which consciousness was speaking.
“Go,” she said.
Amelia disconnected her and carried her toward the stairs.
The missile struck the northern shaft.
The ground lifted beneath them.
The chapel windows exploded.
The lake rose in a wall of fire and water.
Then the server chamber collapsed.
At Hart Meridian Tower, the locks released.
Theodore and Cassandra escaped seconds before the original impact time.
When Amelia regained consciousness outside the chapel, Nathaniel was beside her.
Lucy and Ada were safe.
Catherine had disappeared.
Helena was breathing.
The server status showed one surviving signal.
Not Helen.
Not Jonathan.
One unnamed consciousness had transferred out before the explosion.
Its destination was Hart Meridian’s global network.
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The signal identified itself with a single word:
ORPHEUS.
