Chapter 36 - Grandfather
“Do not open that door.”
My father's voice came from behind us.
He stumbled into the maternity wing, blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
Diane was beside him.
Ross was not.
Dad locked the door.
“Your grandfather is not here.”
The speaker crackled.
“Still lying, Marcus?”
Dad stared at it.
The voice laughed.
“Some things never change.”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“Thomas.”
Dad grabbed my wrist.
“Don't.”
I pulled free.
“You know he's alive.”
“I know Carter used his voice.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It has his recordings.”
“From when?”
Dad hesitated.
“Before he died.”
The speaker came alive again.
“Your father is right.”
A different voice.
Older.
Calmer.
But unmistakably human.
“Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I'm dead.”
A door at the end of the corridor opened.
An old man stood there.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
A cane in one hand.
But the eyes.
Those were my father's eyes.
And mine.
Dad raised his weapon.
The old man smiled.
“Put it down, Marcus.”
Dad didn't.
“Thomas.”
“Son.”
“I watched them bury you.”
“You watched them bury a man who looked like me.”
Mom whispered, “No.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Elena.”
She stepped backward.
“You're dead.”
“No.”
“You died in the hospital.”
“I left someone else there.”
I felt sick.
“This is impossible.”
Thomas looked at me.
“You've been told that word your entire life.”
He walked toward us.
Ethan raised his gun.
Thomas barely glanced at him.
“You're Ethan.”
Ethan stiffened.
“How do you know?”
“I know everyone connected to her.”
His eyes moved to Noah.
“And the child.”
I stepped in front of my son.
“You're not touching him.”
Thomas smiled.
“I don't need to.”
Dad stepped between us.
“Why are you here?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Because you finally woke her.”
Dad's face hardened.
“You ordered Carter.”
“I funded it.”
“You destroyed our family.”
“I built it.”
“You took Elias.”
“I saved him.”
Elias moved forward.
“You called me defective.”
Thomas studied him.
“You were seven.”
“You sold me.”
“You survived.”
“That's not the same thing.”
Thomas's expression remained calm.
“You think this is about cruelty.”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“It is about succession.”
I felt a chill.
“Succession to what?”
“Control.”
Leah whispered, “Carter.”
Thomas nodded.
“Carter was never a program.”
He tapped his cane against the floor.
“It is a succession network.”
I frowned.
“Meaning?”
“Every generation produced one anchor.”
“One?”
“One that can access it.”
I looked at my scar.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“And Elias?”
“Guardian.”
Elias looked confused.
Thomas continued.
“C-00 was never designed to control the system. He was designed to protect C-14.”
I stared at Elias.
He looked devastated.
“I was protecting you?”
“Your entire life.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Even when you believed you hated her.”
Elias's eyes hardened.
“You conditioned me to hate her.”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“We conditioned you to fear losing her.”
The realization hit all of us at once.
I looked at Elias.
“You took Noah because you thought you were protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“You thought Carter would use him against me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because if you knew I was alive, they would know you remembered.”
My anger faltered.
He wasn't innocent.
But he wasn't the monster I had imagined either.
Thomas smiled.
“Now you understand.”
I turned toward him.
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“I understand that you used children to build your system.”
“I used children because adults could no longer be trusted.”
“You call that justice?”
“I call it survival.”
Dad stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You still think you can stop me.”
“I already stopped Carter.”
Thomas smiled.
“You shut down a local node.”
My heart sank.
“Local?”
“Yes.”
Leah whispered, “There are more.”
Thomas nodded.
“Seven.”
Dad looked at me.
“Seven facilities.”
Thomas continued.
“And one headquarters.”
“Where?”
“Under Washington.”
Silence.
My heart pounded.
“You're running a national network.”
“No.”
Thomas looked at me.
“I'm running something much larger.”
He reached into his coat.
He pulled out a photograph.
I knew the room immediately.
The White House.
But the photograph was old.
My grandfather stood on the steps.
Beside him were senior military officials, CEOs, senators.
And my father.
And Adrian.
And my mother.
I stared.
“You all worked together.”
Dad whispered, “Not willingly.”
Thomas smiled.
“Willingness was never required.”
He extended the photograph.
“Tomorrow, your father is going to be arrested.”
Dad stared at him.
“For what?”
“Mass casualty terrorism.”
My stomach dropped.
“You framed him.”
Thomas nodded.
“By morning, every record will say he ordered the facility attack.”
Dad's face went pale.
“The weapons.”
“The signatures.”
“The command codes.”
“You planted them.”
Thomas smiled.
“And your daughter will be named as the mastermind.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Why?”
“Because when the military comes for you, you'll run.”
“And?”
“And they'll follow you directly to the final node.”
Thomas turned away.
“Then Carter will have exactly what it needs.”
The door closed behind him.
Dad looked at me.
“We have until dawn.”
I stared at the closed door.
“How do we stop him?”
He looked at Elias.
“For the first time in twenty years, I don't know.”
Elias met my eyes.
“I do.”
He held up a small device.
“There is one place Carter can't see.”
“Where?”
May you like
He looked at Noah.
“Your childhood home.”
