Chapter 10 - The Man Above UsThe room became dark.
I heard people moving.
Someone shouted.
A gunshot cracked.
Then another.
A child screamed.
“Ariel!”
I reached for my daughter.
My hand found hers.
I pulled her toward me.
“Stay with Mommy.”
The emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
My mother was gone.
So was the mechanical Glen.
Mara crouched beside the monitors.
“The system has been compromised.”
My father was bleeding again.
Clara was holding him.
Glen stood beside me.
“Where is Ariel?”
I looked down.
She was gone.
My blood froze.
“Ariel?”
I spun around.
The second girl was still in the room.
But my daughter was missing.
“No.”
I ran toward the nearest door.
Locked.
“Open it!”
Mara slammed her hands onto the control panel.
“Someone has overridden everything.”
Then we heard Ariel's voice.
From the speakers.
“Mommy.”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“Ariel! Where are you?”
“Upstairs.”
“In the house?”
“Yes.”
“How did you get there?”
Silence.
Then another voice answered.
My husband's voice.
“She's with me.”
I looked at Glen beside me.
His face went pale.
“That isn't me.”
The voice continued.
“Come alone.”
“Who are you?”
A pause.
Then:
“Your real husband.”
Glen closed his eyes.
“I knew it.”
Mara looked at me.
“Don't go.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“That's my daughter.”
“We can trace the signal.”
“You heard the voice.”
“It could be a recording.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
The voice said my name.
The exact nickname Glen had always used.
One nobody else knew.
I looked at the tunnel exit.
“I’m going.”
Glen grabbed my wrist.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
He looked hurt.
“I won't let you go alone.”
We moved through the tunnel.
The second Ariel followed us.
Clara and my father stayed behind.
When we emerged beneath the house, everything felt different.
Too quiet.
The birthday decorations were still hanging in the backyard.
Balloons swayed in the wind.
Music still played softly from a forgotten speaker.
It looked normal.
That was the most frightening part.
Inside the house, every light was off.
We found Ariel's room.
The door stood open.
Her toys were scattered everywhere.
The floorboards were broken.
And beneath them was a steel door.
The archive.
A voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
Glen stood beside me.
“I'll go first.”
“No.”
I opened the door.
Stairs descended into darkness.
We went down.
At the bottom was a massive chamber.
Rows of servers.
Boxes.
Files.
Photographs.
A single computer sat in the center.
And in front of it stood a man.
He looked like Glen.
But older.
Scarred.
Human.
Ariel stood beside him.
“Daddy!”
She ran toward me.
I grabbed her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
The man smiled.
“Finally.”
I stared at him.
“Who are you?”
He looked at Glen.
Then at me.
“The man whose life your husband stole.”
Glen stepped forward.
“I never stole anything.”
The man laughed.
“They gave you my memories.”
I looked at him.
“Then you're…”
“The original.”
Silence.
I looked at Glen.
He looked broken.
The original Glen looked at Ariel.
“She has the archive key.”
I tightened my arms around her.
“You're not taking her.”
He smiled.
“I don't need to.”
He pressed a button.
Every server turned on.
A screen displayed thousands of names.
Politicians.
Doctors.
Police officers.
Business owners.
Judges.
Celebrities.
And ordinary people.
Everyone connected to Orion.
Then one name appeared in red.
Mine.
Under it:
PRIMARY HEIR
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The original Glen looked at me.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed to Ariel.
“She isn't the key.”
“Then what is she?”
He smiled.
“The successor.”
Ariel looked at me.
Then whispered:
“Mommy, I'm sorry.”
“What?”
Her little hand reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a tiny black device.
The archive began unlocking.
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And every screen changed to one sentence:
WELCOME BACK, SUBJECT EIGHT.
