Chapter 11 - THE ARCHITECTEmergency lights flickered.
Venn's gun was still pointed toward the darkness.
Shaw lay on the floor.
Alive.
Wounded.
Thomas had disappeared.
I crouched behind a server rack.
Vale's voice echoed throughout the room.
“Lucas.”
Venn answered.
“She's here.”
“Excellent.”
“Release the ship.”
A pause.
“No.”
Venn looked toward the speaker.
“You promised.”
“I promised you a place in the new structure.”
“You said no civilians would die.”
Vale's voice became colder.
“You still believe that matters?”
Venn lowered the weapon.
Something had changed.
Not enough.
But enough.
I recognized it.
Regret.
I crawled toward Shaw.
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Where's my father?”
“Gone.”
Then a door opened.
Thomas appeared.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Run.”
We entered a side corridor.
“What's happening?”
“Venn was working for Vale.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Thomas stopped.
“You don't know what Vale is.”
We ran again.
“Who is he?”
Thomas finally answered.
“The original architect.”
“Black Meridian?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“The system before Meridian.”
He pushed open a steel door.
Inside was another command center.
Thomas activated a screen.
A photograph appeared.
Adrian Vale.
Twenty years younger.
Standing beside my father.
Beside Kane.
And beside someone else.
I stared.
The fourth man wore a dark suit.
His face was partially obscured.
I recognized the uniform insignia.
Department of Defense.
Thomas said:
“That man created the funding structure.”
“Who?”
Thomas looked at me.
“He has held seven classified advisory positions in twelve years.”
“Name.”
“Ethan Mercer.”
I stared.
“Mercer?”
Thomas nodded.
“My older brother.”
I felt the room spin.
“Uncle Ethan?”
“Yes.”
The same uncle who had attended my father's funeral.
The same man who had told me Thomas died trying to protect people.
He had lied.
For twelve years.
Thomas continued.
“He wasn't just involved.”
“He created the first network.”
I thought of my childhood.
The phone calls.
The locked office.
The men who came to the house.
The night my father disappeared.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You worked with him.”
“Until I realized what he was building.”
“And then?”
“He threatened you.”
Everything stopped.
“What?”
“He told me if I exposed Meridian, you'd disappear.”
I stared at my father.
“You left me to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“Did it work?”
His eyes filled with something close to shame.
“No.”
The lights turned red.
A system warning appeared.
ARCHIVE BREACH.
Thomas looked at the screen.
“Vale is copying the database.”
“Can we stop him?”
“From here.”
“How?”
Thomas pointed to another terminal.
“The archive needs two biometric signatures.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
He paused.
“And yours.”
We moved to the console.
Thomas placed his palm on one scanner.
I placed mine on the other.
The system unlocked.
A new menu appeared.
DELETE / RELEASE / TRANSFER
Thomas stared.
“Release.”
“What does that do?”
“Every file becomes public.”
“Do it.”
He hesitated.
“If we release this, governments collapse.”
“Maybe.”
“Markets could crash.”
“People need to know.”
“People could panic.”
“They already are.”
Thomas looked at me.
Then pressed:
RELEASE.
Nothing happened.
I looked at the screen.
“Why?”
Thomas frowned.
A message appeared.
SECOND AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
He whispered:
“No.”
“What?”
“Ethan.”
“Your brother?”
“The fourth signature.”
The system displayed a name.
ETHAN MERCER.
Then another message.
LIVE BIOMETRIC REQUIRED.
Thomas looked at me.
“He's here.”
A speaker clicked on.
My uncle's voice filled the room.
“Hello, Hannah.”
I turned toward the door.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
Then Ethan Mercer walked inside.
May you like
He smiled.
And he was holding my father's red key.
