Chapter 10 - Daniel froze.Arthur's hand remained perfectly steady.
Evelyn didn't resist.
Thomas raised his weapon.
Arthur looked at him.
"Put it down."
Thomas hesitated.
Arthur pressed the barrel against Evelyn's temple.
"Now."
Thomas slowly lowered his rifle.
Daniel stared at Arthur.
"You were the traitor."
Arthur's eyes filled with sadness.
"I never said I wasn't."
Marcus laughed from the shadows.
"I told you."
Daniel looked at him.
Marcus walked closer.
"Arthur has been working for your father all these years."
Arthur snapped:
"That's not true."
Marcus smiled.
"You don't even know which side you're on anymore."
Daniel's father spoke through the speakers.
"Arthur."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"You promised."
His father's voice became colder.
"You promised to deliver both subjects."
Arthur looked at Daniel.
Then Evelyn.
Daniel realized.
Arthur wasn't kidnapping them.
He was protecting them.
Because there were cameras everywhere.
Someone was forcing his hand.
Daniel whispered:
"You don't have a choice."
Arthur didn't answer.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Do you?"
Arthur looked at him.
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
A memory.
A childhood game.
He and Evelyn hiding under a table.
Arthur teaching them a code.
Four knocks.
Pause.
Two knocks.
Pause.
Four knocks.
Daniel remembered.
He slowly tapped his fingers against the steel cabinet.
Four.
Pause.
Two.
Pause.
Four.
Evelyn's eyes widened.
She understood.
Arthur lowered the gun slightly.
Daniel shouted:
"NOW!"
Evelyn struck Arthur's wrist.
Thomas lunged.
The gun fell.
Marcus fired.
The bullet hit Arthur in the chest.
He collapsed.
Evelyn grabbed the weapon.
Thomas tackled Marcus.
Daniel ran toward Arthur.
Blood spread across his suit.
Arthur grabbed Daniel's arm.
"Listen."
Daniel knelt.
"You'll be okay."
"No."
Arthur coughed.
"You need to go."
"Where?"
Arthur pointed to the black box.
"Inside."
Daniel opened it.
Arthur whispered:
"There's a key."
Daniel found a tiny metal key hidden beneath the device.
"Where does it go?"
Arthur looked at the floor.
"There."
A small circular slot had opened in the archive console.
Daniel inserted the key.
The entire room shook.
A hidden floor panel opened.
Inside was a staircase.
Thomas stared.
"That wasn't on the blueprints."
Arthur smiled weakly.
"Because it was never supposed to exist."
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
"We're going down."
They descended.
Marcus escaped during the confusion.
Thomas followed.
Arthur remained behind.
Daniel looked back.
Arthur was still alive.
Barely.
Then the steel doors closed.
Daniel, Evelyn, and Thomas reached the bottom.
A massive circular chamber surrounded them.
At the center was a glass structure.
Inside stood a man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Attached to dozens of machines.
Daniel froze.
His father.
Jonathan Cross.
Alive.
Daniel approached the glass.
"Dad..."
Jonathan opened his eyes.
He smiled.
"Gabriel."
Daniel placed his hand against the glass.
"Why?"
Jonathan's expression changed.
"Because I knew one day they'd find you."
"Who?"
Jonathan looked at Evelyn.
Then Thomas.
Then at the cameras.
"The Architects."
Daniel shook his head.
"You created them."
Jonathan smiled sadly.
"I created the monster."
He pointed behind Daniel.
Daniel turned.
A door had opened.
Hundreds of files appeared on screens.
Every document displayed the same title.
PROJECT FINAL DAWN.
Jonathan whispered:
"They're about to activate it."
Daniel looked at him.
"What happens when they do?"
Jonathan answered:
"Every false memory implanted into every operative will collapse at once."
Evelyn stared.
"And people will remember everything."
Jonathan nodded.
"Governments will fall."
Thomas whispered:
"Cities could riot."
Jonathan looked at Daniel.
"And millions of people will discover they were never who they thought they were."
The lights turned red.
A countdown appeared.
00:19:59
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Jonathan whispered:
"They've already started."
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