Chapter 8 - They escaped the underground facility through a drainage tunnel.By sunrise, they were miles from Blackwood Manor.
An abandoned railway station stood beside a frozen river.
Arthur unlocked a rusted door beneath the platform.
Inside was a small room containing food, weapons, medical supplies, and an old radio.
Daniel stared at the room.
"You've been preparing this for years."
Arthur nodded.
"For the day the system activated."
Thomas placed a rifle on the table.
"We need to leave the country."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
Thomas looked at her.
"They have every airport watched."
"We're not going to an airport."
Daniel looked up.
"Where?"
Evelyn pointed to the map.
"Chicago."
Daniel frowned.
"We're wanted there."
"Exactly."
She tapped one building.
"The original Circle headquarters."
Daniel's heart began beating faster.
"That place was destroyed."
"That's what everyone was told."
Arthur sat down.
"The headquarters wasn't destroyed."
He pointed toward the map.
"It was sealed."
Daniel stared.
"What is inside?"
Arthur answered:
"The central archive."
They spent the day traveling through abandoned roads.
At dusk, they reached Chicago.
The city looked unchanged.
But Daniel felt like a stranger inside it.
Every street triggered fragments of memories.
A diner.
A bridge.
A parking garage.
A woman in a red coat.
He couldn't tell which memories were real.
Then he saw the building.
An old financial tower downtown.
The Circle headquarters had been hidden beneath it.
They entered through a service elevator.
Arthur entered a code.
The elevator descended.
And descended.
And descended.
Daniel watched the floor indicator.
B1.
B2.
B10.
B20.
Then the numbers disappeared.
The elevator kept going.
Finally, it stopped.
The doors opened.
A massive underground archive stretched into darkness.
Rows of servers.
Vaults.
Paper files.
Photographs.
Each cabinet labeled with a number.
Thomas walked ahead.
"Seventeen."
He found the file.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Name: Gabriel Cross.
He stared.
Then another document.
Parentage: Jonathan Cross. Eleanor Vale.
Daniel's mother.
His father.
Everything was real.
His name had been Gabriel.
Then he found another photograph.
Gabriel at age five.
Evelyn beside him.
Thomas behind them.
Arthur behind all three.
Daniel looked up.
"Why were we together?"
Arthur took a long breath.
"Because you were siblings."
Silence.
Daniel stared at him.
"What?"
Evelyn slowly turned toward him.
Arthur continued.
"Not by blood."
Daniel's confusion deepened.
"Evelyn was adopted into the Blackwood family."
Daniel stared.
"You and Evelyn shared the same mother."
Daniel couldn't breathe.
"My mother..."
Arthur nodded.
"Eleanor gave Evelyn to your father."
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
She looked equally shocked.
"We weren't supposed to know."
Arthur's voice cracked.
"Because your mother wanted to protect both of you."
Daniel turned another page.
A document titled:
PROJECT HEIRS.
It described two children.
Subject 17.
Subject 18.
Their brains were unusually compatible with a neural encryption system.
The Architects had identified them at birth.
Daniel continued reading.
Then he saw the final line.
Only one subject can unlock the final archive.
He looked at Evelyn.
"Which one?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"I don't know."
A sound echoed through the archive.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Slow applause.
Everyone turned.
A man stepped from between the shelves.
Marcus Venn.
He wasn't alone.
Behind him stood six armed men.
Marcus smiled.
"Excellent."
Daniel raised his weapon.
Marcus continued.
"I was hoping you'd find that file."
Thomas aimed at him.
"You should have stayed dead."
Marcus laughed.
"You already used that line tonight."
Then Marcus looked directly at Daniel.
"Gabriel."
Daniel froze.
No one had called him that before.
Marcus smiled.
"Now you're finally beginning to remember who you really are."
He raised a small remote.
The archive doors slammed shut.
Marcus pressed a button.
Every light turned red.
And somewhere deep beneath the building, something enormous began to power up.
May you like
Marcus whispered:
"The final archive is awake."
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