Chapter 29 - The Fuse
The recording had been less than ten seconds long.
It was enough to destroy every plan we had.
Emily stood frozen.
“That wasn't me.”
I knelt in front of her.
“I know.”
“She looked exactly like me.”
“I know.”
Michael was staring at the black screen.
“That's impossible.”
The other Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Michael turned.
“What?”
“She wasn't copied.”
Everyone looked at her.
“She was grown.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?”
The other Elena looked at Emily.
“She's another branch.”
“No.”
“She carries your face.”
“Stop talking like she's an object.”
“I’m not.”
Her voice cracked.
“She may be your daughter.”
“What?”
The room went silent.
Michael stepped forward.
“Explain.”
The other Elena swallowed.
“Emily was born once.”
She pointed at the screen.
“The network reproduced the neural pattern.”
I stared.
“Where?”
“Inside the archive.”
I felt sick.
“You're saying there is another Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To test whether the door could open without the original child.”
Michael looked at Evelyn.
“You knew.”
Evelyn said nothing.
“Mother?”
Still silence.
Michael's voice rose.
“You knew.”
Evelyn finally answered.
“Yes.”
I stepped toward her.
“Where is she?”
The old woman looked at me.
“Not where you think.”
Reyes slammed his hand on the desk.
“Enough.”
He held up the marriage file.
“We need answers.”
He flipped it open.
“This marriage record has something on the back.”
He placed it beneath the scanner.
Numbers appeared.
A bank routing sequence.
Then a property title.
Then a name.
MICHAEL HART.
“What's that?”
Michael stared.
“My trust.”
“You had a trust?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He looked at Evelyn.
She said:
“Under the cemetery.”
I frowned.
“The cemetery?”
“The grave.”
“My husband has a trust hidden under his grave?”
Michael gave a bitter laugh.
“Apparently I had a lot more planning to do than I remembered.”
David suddenly moved toward the door.
I noticed.
“Where are you going?”
He stopped.
“I need to check the perimeter.”
“You've lied to me before.”
“I know.”
“Don't walk away.”
David turned.
“The house is surrounded.”
“By Vale?”
“Yes.”
“How did he find us?”
David looked at Michael.
“Because someone gave him the route.”
Silence.
I looked at everyone.
“Who?”
Nobody spoke.
Then Reyes stepped toward me.
“Your father.”
I stared.
“No.”
Thomas's face appeared on the monitor.
He looked defeated.
“I did.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“Thomas.”
“I gave him the location.”
Michael took a step toward the screen.
“Why?”
Thomas answered:
“Because he already had your mother.”
Sarah looked up.
“What?”
“I've been negotiating with Vale for years.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
“You traded my family.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I traded myself.”
“Then why give him us?”
“I thought I could control where he came.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
Thomas looked at me.
“I couldn't.”
The house shook.
Windows shattered.
Reyes pulled Emily to the ground.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Michael grabbed me.
“Down!”
David returned fire through the side window.
Victoria shoved a table against the door.
Sarah screamed as another bullet hit the wall.
I crawled toward Emily.
She was crying.
“Mom!”
“I'm here.”
Michael looked at the server room.
“The synchronization is starting.”
The central system flashed.
6:00.
5:59.
5:58.
“That's not tomorrow.”
“No.”
The other Elena looked at the screen.
“They moved it.”
“Why?”
“So they can force the anchor to choose.”
I looked at Michael.
“Choose what?”
He pointed toward the server.
“Which Elena gets to survive.”
The floor opened.
A second chamber rose from beneath us.
Inside were two glass pods.
One empty.
One occupied.
My breath stopped.
Inside the occupied pod lay a young woman.
My face.
My body.
My eyes closed.
The first clone.
The other Elena whispered:
“She never died.”
I stared.
Then the girl's eyes opened.
She looked directly at me.
And said:
May you like
“Mom.”
The entire house fell silent.
