Chapter 33 - Adrian's File
Diane placed the file on a table beside Noah.
He looked at it.
Then at her.
“Does she know?”
Diane shook her head.
“Not yet.”
My chest tightened.
“What is in that file?”
Diane looked into the camera.
“The original Carter agreement.”
Dad went still.
Leah whispered, “No.”
I looked at him.
“What agreement?”
Dad didn't answer.
“Dad.”
He stared at the screen.
“It was classified.”
“So?”
“It doesn't matter anymore.”
Diane opened the file.
“Your father signed it.”
My body went cold.
“You?”
Diane nodded.
“Your father.”
She turned a page.
“Your mother.”
Another.
“Adrian Vale.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“And one more.”
Diane looked up.
“You.”
I almost laughed.
“I was a newborn.”
“You were the asset.”
“No.”
“You were the reason the agreement existed.”
I looked at Mom.
She was crying again.
“Tell her,” Diane said.
Mom shook her head.
“Not like this.”
“Then how?”
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
“Tell me now.”
Mom looked at me.
“The Carter program began as a military behavioral project.”
Dad interrupted.
“That's enough.”
“No.”
I turned toward him.
“You've had enough chances.”
He swallowed.
Mom continued.
“Adrian believed the program could help soldiers recover from trauma. He thought it could teach the brain to interrupt conditioned responses.”
“That sounds like the opposite of Carter.”
“It was.”
She looked at me.
“Then they discovered they could use the same pathways to implant behavioral priorities.”
“Commands.”
“Yes.”
“Like OBEY.”
She nodded.
“Adrian fought it.”
“And Dad?”
My father's silence answered for him.
Mom looked down.
“Your father believed Carter could be controlled.”
Dad whispered, “I believed I could destroy it from inside.”
“You joined them.”
“I infiltrated them.”
“That's not what the agreement says.”
His jaw tightened.
Diane held up the document.
“General, should she read the signature?”
Dad didn't move.
Diane slid a page toward the camera.
I couldn't read everything.
But I saw three names.
General Marcus Hale.
Elena Vale.
Adrian Vale.
And beneath them:
CONSENT TO SUBJECT 14.
My knees weakened.
“Subject fourteen.”
Mom whispered, “You.”
I looked at the screen.
“Why would my parents agree to this?”
Diane answered.
“Because your brother was dying.”
I stared.
“My brother?”
Mom's face crumpled.
“You had an older brother.”
I looked at Dad.
“He died?”
“No.”
My heart stopped.
“No?”
Dad finally met my eyes.
“He disappeared.”
The room went silent.
Diane turned another page.
“He didn't disappear.”
A photograph appeared.
A boy.
Maybe seven years old.
Dark hair.
My eyes.
A crooked smile.
On the back was a number.
C-00.
I couldn't breathe.
Leah stepped closer to the screen.
“That's impossible.”
Diane looked at her.
“You've seen him.”
Leah shook her head.
“No.”
“You saw his work.”
“Who is he?”
Diane smiled without humor.
“The man you've been calling C-13.”
My stomach dropped.
I stared at the screen.
The young man stepped back into view.
For the first time, he looked less like a stranger.
I studied his face.
The eyes.
The shape of his mouth.
The scar.
Something in me moved.
Not memory.
Recognition.
I whispered, “Elias.”
My mother screamed.
“Don't call him that.”
The young man froze.
Noah looked at him.
“You know her.”
C-13 slowly turned toward the camera.
“You remembered.”
Tears ran down my face.
“I have a brother.”
He looked at me.
“You did.”
My voice broke.
“What happened?”
“They took me.”
“When?”
“The day you were born.”
Mom covered her mouth.
Dad looked like the floor had disappeared beneath him.
Elias continued.
“They said one child could be conditioned.”
I stared.
“They told my parents to sacrifice me.”
Mom whispered, “No.”
“You signed.”
“No.”
“You signed.”
Adrian's old voice suddenly played from the speakers.
“Elias is not the failure.”
Static.
Then:
“She is.”
I shook my head.
Diane pressed another button.
A medical scan appeared.
Two embryos.
Two heartbeats.
One marked C-00.
One marked C-14.
I stared at my mother.
“We were twins?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
My world tilted.
“You knew.”
“For eighteen years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought Elias was dead.”
A cold voice came through the speaker.
“He wasn't.”
The screen changed.
Elias stood beside Noah.
He put one hand on my son's shoulder.
I raised my weapon.
“Touch him and I'll kill you.”
Elias didn't flinch.
“I know.”
“Then let him go.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
He looked at my son.
“Because Carter isn't interested in me anymore.”
He looked at me.
“It wants you to wake the original.”
I looked at Noah.
“What original?”
Elias's face changed.
Fear appeared for the first time.
“Your father.”
Dad stiffened.
“What?”
Elias shook his head.
“Not General Hale.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Adrian Vale.”
My mother whispered, “He's dead.”
Elias smiled.
“That is what Carter wanted you to believe.”
The screens went black.
Then every light in the underground facility came on.
Thousands of archived files appeared on the walls.
Every file had one date.
My birthday.
May you like
And beneath each one:
ADRIAN VALE — STATUS: ACTIVE.
